Lady Luck and Dame Fortune
by SylverEyes
Summary: Some people are just lucky. Ha. Fortune favors the valiant. Double ha. These two ladies aren't kind at all, as one group of friends are about to find out. Ozai's Angels, The Gaang, and Zuko and Iroh have a toss up for advantages of any kind. Many pairings
1. Chapter 1

The pretty girl stormed through the forest, ignoring the branches that pulled her braided brown hair, and the sharp twigs that scratched her arms and face, cracking back as they flung out behind her. If you stood in front of her, you would be bulldozed over, because her face was murderous, and her azure eyes flashed icily, daring anyone to try and stop her.

Matching her pace, step for step, was a considerably shorter girl with black hair, fair skin and pretty, misty eyes. Her green dress was being tugged at by the forest, but she brushed them away carelessly. The wind seemed to howl in protest, but the two girls ignored it and pounded on.

An older boy with the same stunningly blue eyes as his sister tried to get into step with the two girls, but kept getting smacked in the face, chest and stomach from the backlash of the harsh pace of his friends, continually winding him. The scratches on his face were bleeding, and he received a black eye from one furiously snapping twig. Clapping a hand to the bruise he gasped out, "Katara-"

The girl with the braid trembled and stopped suddenly, causing her brother to almost walk right into her. The trembling continuing, she spun around, and there was a maniac glint in her eyes. The short girl stopped, but stayed where she was. "Sokka," Katara's fists were clenched, her nails biting into her palms. "If you say you're hungry, or that you wish that Appa and Momo were here, I'll- I'll-" Apparently Katara didn't have words to express her disgust.

"No, Katara, we need to find shelter. There's going to be a storm."

Katara took a step towards her brother, but he didn't back down. Angry that she wasn't intimidating him, Katara swore and turned away, fully intending to walk away from them, but a young voice stopped her.

"Katara, Sokka's right. I can feel it. I was going to bring it up in a bit." The small girl said. Sokka glared at the blind earthbender, silently cursing her for not saying something sooner. She didn't notice, looking to where Katara had stopped again.

Her shoulders sagged and she turned around. "Toph…" she muttered, looking down at the ground, eyes half-lidded.

"We're all tired," Sokka told her firmly yet gently, ready to argue the point now that she had been diffused. "And since there is a storm coming, they will have to stop too."

Katara said nothing, but walked at a much slower pace, looking left and right for shelter. Sokka smiled and glanced at Toph, who was also grinning. Katara could be gotten through to. She was not consumed… yet. The two friends were just going to have to stop her from getting to that point. They followed her, Sokka scanning and Toph feeling the vibrations of the earth to see.

Katara had not been herself for the past few days. She was enraged all the time and ready to snap at anyone. She wanted to march day and night to get Aang back, no sleep, no food, not even water, which was her element. The searing, agonizing pain that clawed at her stomach seemed to lessen when they were moving. Her face was gaunter and her eyes more sunken than normal. In fact, all of them were. No one was getting much sleep, or wanting base desires such as food, even Sokka. No one had ever captured Aang for this long. Ever. They found him not being there extremely disconcerting, and habit made them look for Aang's face when they saw a butterfly or squirrel, but it wasn't there. No wide smile when an animal crossed their path, no excited words when he learned a new bending move. There was a gaping hole in all of them.

Toph sighed. She had become so used to his light footsteps, carefully walking beside one of the three. Twinkle toes, she had called him. The young earthbender smiled weakly at the thought of her teasing him. And his footfalls were so light and gentle, he deserved the nickname. Toph sighed again before she realized what she was feeling. "I found a cave you guys," she called out over the now howling wind, making her shiver. "This way."

The two water tribe children followed their friend into the shelter of a fairly spacious cave when the first raindrops started to fall. It soon turned into a deluge of water, pounding down on the trees and ground outside. The trio moved further back into their cave. They huddled together, and Sokka dully commented, "Looks like we're not going to have a fire tonight." Toph turned her head and stared at him, but Katara didn't move. She sat straight-backed and rigid, staring out at the pouring rain. Her eyes were glazed over, remembering. Then she turned and waterbended some of the liquid onto her hand as a glove, healing Sokka's black eye and cuts quickly. Her brother sighed and relaxed, the stinging disappearing. Then, as if on orders she robotically and automatically laid out her sleeping bag.

The other two hesitated before following suit. Toph made her earth tent, and Sokka lay down beside his sister. She stared up at the ceiling of the cave. Sokka nervously closed his eyes. She was giving into it; it was going to control her soon. She had to calm down. Why did she have to be so susceptible to her feelings? Sokka wondered as he rolled over. Why couldn't girls just let things go…?

Toph covered her eyes with her hands and breathed deeply. She knew how Katara was feeling. She also knew that if her rage didn't simmer down soon, she would destroy herself. The waterbender was already beating herself up too much over that day. Aang did not blame her, she was sure of that. He wouldn't do that…

Katara shifted so she was looking out at the curtain of water falling from the heavens. She wanted to scream and rage, and run away, far away from everything. She wanted to let out the animal trying to force its way out of her stomach. She… she didn't know what she wanted to do, but she knew that she couldn't stand doing nothing. Looking at, but not seeing, the rain outside, her mind wandered over to the memory that she had been holding back, and it started immediately, as though it had been waiting for her.

_Zuko smiled in an almost painful way, knocking her forcefully against a tree. Katara's head hit the trunk hard, and she saw stars popping colorfully in front of her eyes. She shook it to get rid of them, and a pounding started thudding in her brain. The waterbender realized that she had slid to the base of the tree, but these thoughts were coming very sluggishly to her mind. She watched everything that happened next as though it was an old movie._

_Zuko knocked out Sokka easily with a fireball to his head while he was busy with the old man. Toph seemed rather reluctant to fight him, for who knew why, but she attacked Zuko viciously. The banished fire prince fell to the ground, rocks under his feet rumpled. He jumped up and away just in time to avoid Aang's air blast. It caught Toph instead, and the young earthbender flew into the air. Aang would have caught her but Zuko bowled him over and pinned him to the ground. Toph fell to the earth, unable to bend enough to save her, although her earth bed stopped her from being killed. She fell unconscious as her head hit the ground. The old man sedately walked over to his nephew as Zuko hit Aang in the back of his head. The Avatar went limp._

"_I have him," Zuko said, his voice sounding like he couldn't believe it himself. "Let's go." The two firebenders left, dragging Aang along behind them._

_The scene flickered, and Katara's last few thoughts were scattered._

'_I'll have to heal them…'_

'_Zuko's gotten better…'_

'_The sky's really blue…'_

_Her vision left and everything went dark. She could feel blackness creeping up on her._

'_Where'd everyone go?'_

_And she fainted._

Katara growled quietly. From the absence of Sokka's usual snores, Katara could tell that she wasn't the only one lying awake. The waterbender closed her eyes, listening to the rhythmic pounding on all objects. It soothed her slightly until a thought floated up from the depths of her mind.

'If only I'd been better…'

If only she hadn't been so easy. If only she'd let all she had loose onto those two firebenders! She could have saved Aang; she believed it deep in her heart. Beside that was another memory that played before her shut lids.

_Katara opened her eyes to find a horrible pounding in her head. She stared up at the leaves above her head for a moment before trying to sit up. Bad idea. The pounding tripled its beat and she started to become dizzy. Katara moaned softly and leaned back down._

_All at once, everything that had happened earlier that day hit home to her._

_Despite her protesting brain, Katara sat bold upright, staring around. Toph was leaning against a tree, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. Her brother was sitting and staring at the ground. His eyes were unfocused, and he didn't seem to hear her get up._

"_Sokka?" Katara croaked hoarsely. Sokka jumped and looked around. Seeing his younger sister, he tottered unsteadily over to her. Katara could see the large welt at the back of his head where he had been hit, but it didn't really register. Sokka grabbed one of Katara's hands, his blue eyes the reflection of her own. "Katara," he whispered, gripping her hand tighter. "Katara, they took him."_

_Katara's free hand went to her mother's necklace. The waterbender staggered back as though hit. Her vision swam as she felt tears well up in her eyes and begin to overflow-_

No! Katara almost shouted, turning over and slamming her face into her pillow, shattering the flashback. No! She screamed again in her head. No more tears! No more crying, no more weakness!

All three companions had been devastated at the loss of their perky friend, and were sad for three days straight, especially once they realized he really wasn't coming back. After that, Toph and Sokka hid their grief from view, trying to act as normal as possible. Katara, however, hardened, and the new rage she felt was ready to bubble up at any moment and snap at anyone who tried to talk to her. She felt a passion for trying to find Aang preparing to overwhelm her, but her friends stopped her, knowing she would kill herself if she let it take over.

Since Katara viewed it that it was her fault Aang was gone, she almost wanted to die. He was in the clutches of two Fire Nation men, one of them Zuko, who might do anything to him at any time. Katara wanted to shout with the injustice of it. He should be here with them. Perhaps then they would be pretending to laugh at one of Sokka's stupid jokes, or watching Toph and Sokka get into an argument.

Katara shook herself and rolled to look at her two traveling companions. It looked as though they were asleep. They were both completely healed from that fateful day, as Katara had waterbended them back to health, but their pain went deeper. This blow hit them hard, hit them home. It hit them in their very souls.

Katara shuddered and snuggled deeply into her sleeping bag. The sooner she went to sleep, the sooner she would wake up and continue their tracking for Aang. Katara knew that when she got there she would kill Zuko. Kill him for taking Aang away from the world and from them. Kill him for making her worry, kill him for almost making it back to the Fire Nation with him. Kill him for existing. Katara knew she would.

With the comforting thought, the waterbender drifted off to sleep, a slight smile on her face, which was a nice change even considering that it was a mean one.

The other two fell asleep as well, knowing that they would have to deal with Katara's rage in the morning, but knowing, deep down, that they would be right by her side when she turned onto Zuko.


	2. Chapter 2

How stupid was I not to do this in the first chapter?! Well, here goes now.

I am here to fulfill many pairings needs, opposites included, (etc. Zutara and Kataang), and just have fun writing. You'll see many of your favorite characters getting their asses kicked, or kicking someone else's. Some pairings might not be openly stated, but implied. Have fun reading the second chapter!

Disclaimer: Laughs too hard to say it. Me, own _Avatar_? Please!

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The young boy dragged his feet along, his eyes almost completely closed with sleepiness, his head hanging down in defeat. The boy looked up at his captors, revealing large gray eyes that were clouded, unwilling or unable to feel any emotions. A blue arrow was covering much of his bald head, and the usual smile that was on his face was gone. His gaze dropped back down to his feet and shivered, feeling the wind rasp against his bare legs and arms, but refusing to say anything about it.

The young man walked forward purposefully, something that hadn't happened in a while. His gold eyes flashed, and his short dark hair was ruffled by the air that swept over him. His pale face was distorted by a burn on the left side, partially sealing his left eye shut. The smile that was missing from the younger boy's lips was definitely playing around his, just slightly.

Beside him walked a shorter man with a gray beard and hair. He was not smiling in any way, and looked rather troubled. His hands were clasped around his rather large belly, and his eyes kept darting to the side, searching the trees for something that was not there. He sighed and looked over to the taller man, keeping up the stride, but not saying anything. His nephew didn't get the hint.

The wind raised its voice in an attempt to be heard over the three's separate thoughts. Zuko snapped irritably, "Airbender, stop that." He kept walking, oblivious to his surroundings.

"Zuko," said the old man. "That is not the Avatar. He barely has enough strength to walk, let alone to airbend. That is the wind. We must find shelter, for I can sense a strong storm coming on." He stopped, giving the Avatar a chance to rest. The boy leaned against a nearby tree, panting as silently as he could. He wouldn't show weakness in front of these men.

"No Uncle!" Zuko's voice started to rise, a very bad sign. His temper was always just below the surface, even though he finally had what he wanted, the Avatar. "We have to get to the Fire Nation, so I can get my honor back!"

Iroh sighed wearily. He already knew this talk, and it was going the wrong way. His nephew did not know when to stop, and it was always on his shoulders to make sure that he didn't overdo himself. "No," he said firmly. "We're going to find shelter now. If we don't, we will be soaked to the bone tomorrow. And in his condition," he gestured to the Avatar. Aang thought he saw a spark of kindness in the man's eyes, but he didn't get a chance to check because the man turned away. "I don't think we should risk it."

Zuko resisted the temptation to blow steam out of his nose. He took and deep breath, grit his teeth and said in a very forced calm voice. "Okay, let's find a cave or something." And he began walking again, Iroh following and Aang close behind.

Aang stared at the ground, his thoughts wandering around everything that had happened to him in the past week. His captive days were pretty much a blur, nothing sticking out that he felt a powerful enough emotion to remember. All he knew was that he woke up with a horrible headache and Zuko leaning over him. Since then his sadness turned into anger, which in turn dissolved into nothing. He now didn't care what they did to him. All he wanted was to be with his friends, and he was losing hope for even that. It hurt him too much to think about his old companions, but his mind wouldn't let him be, determined to torture him.

Aang had long since stopped to expect tears from his eyes when he thought about freedom. There was no more sniffling when Toph's grinning face loomed into his mind. Tripping over roots because he couldn't see was no longer a problem since Katara bending didn't haunt him the way it used to. Actual tears were not to come when Sokka stuffing his face floated across his consciousness. He had no more tears left to cry.

And now, worse scenes crossed his mind while he was traveling, never getting a rest or talking, or even eating much. Toph hitting the ground and him unable to save her. Sokka being knocked over while he was busy somewhere else. Katara being thrown against a tree and left in pain. He was the Avatar, and yet… and yet he found he couldn't do it. Hope was a foreign word, small print on the contract of his miserable life.

Aang stopped, staring up at the sky where clouds were gathering. Pain contorted his face, and he would have raised his arms up if they had not been bound behind his back. The two firebenders didn't notice, and kept walking.

Kill me! He shrieked silently to the storm clouds. Strike me down now! Hit me with everything you've got, I can take it! Put me out of my misery! Kill me now…! Aang glared at the heavens, which were mocking him. Raindrops drizzled onto his face, and a faint boom of thunder was heard.

Iroh heard a silent prayer for mercy, and turned around to find the Avatar on his knees, hunched over like the child he was. The master firebender walked back and helped Aang onto his feet. No word of thanks escaped Aang's mouth and he just trudged on, passing Zuko who had just stood watching. One look at the Avatar's eyes told Zuko all he needed to know.

'He feels it,' thought Zuko, almost satisfactorily, 'He feels that pain. That gripping, ripping, tearing pain that overcomes your whole body and drives you to the point of suicide. He feels it now and he'll have to deal with it the way I had to,' the banished fire prince watched his uncle and the Avatar walking before him. After a while he started out and caught up with them easily, finally feeling the raindrops pounding on his skin.

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Aang sat with his back to a tree trunk, looking away from the food that had been placed next to him. The trio was sitting under a dense clump of trees that sheltered them from the worst of the storm. Lightning crackled, but Aang wasn't worried. He hadn't been worrying about anything lately. He felt like a black hole, sucking in everything, but not actually feeling it have an impact on him in any way.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, meditating as best he could. The Avatar could hear Zuko and Iroh talking quietly, although about what he didn't know or care. The rain splattered, thunder rattled the trees, lightning flashed across the sky. Trees shivered, taking the brunt of the falling water, the ground gurgled happily as it sucked up the refreshing moisture.

_In… out… in… out…_ Aang told himself, breathing deeply. No more thoughts, no more memories. He would have to escape. But every attempt had been futile so far. Hope was there, but had no impression.

Zuko looked over to where Aang was and felt a twinge of guilt as he took in the look on the Avatar's face. It was the deepest sorrow he had ever seen, although he had felt something similar when he was banished…

Zuko shook his head. His thoughts had been wandered to that day more and more often. It had happened, and he could not change that now. But oh, how he wished he could! How he could have kept his mouth shut that day in the war chamber, and maybe said something to Uncle Iroh later.

He flipped his mind back to the present with great effort and listened to what his uncle was saying. "… we cannot just go marching off in a storm like this. We will make it to the Fire Nation. Do not exhaust yourself, Prince Zuko."

"I need to get the Avatar there as soon as possible! That means no meaningless breaks!" Zuko raged quietly, feeling his body heating up. Steam was rising around him, as he was evaporating the rain that got through the canopy of leaves above them.

"This break is not meaningless. It is as you are with firebending! Patience will get you much farther than carelessness. And that is what you are showing now. Listen to your master, Zuko. Do not make a mistake you will regret."

His uncle's voice held a delicate warning, and Zuko glared heavily at him as he drank his tea lovingly, savoring the strong flavor. The exiled prince made a noise as if he was going to say something, but Iroh glanced at him over the rim of his teacup and it trailed away quickly.

Zuko laid out his sleeping bag and lay down on it, biting the inside of his cheek. His honor, his throne, his pride were all going to be restored. All he had to do was bring the Avatar to his father and then…

The prince turned over, facing away from the other two. His imagination always stopped there, not allowing him to go further than arriving at his former home. A voice in a back of his head at this point always popped up and said something scathing, something Zuko desperately did not want to believe was true. And although Iroh didn't say anything, Zuko knew his uncle agreed with the voice.

Iroh refilled his cup, eyes traveling from Aang to Zuko and back again. The two had so much in common, whether they knew it or not. They both knew what intense pain was, and were stronger for it. They both had will, determination and some stubbornness running through their veins. The two boys resorted to the same measures when hope was at its lowest.

Then again, there were the extreme differences. The Avatar had friends that he would do anything for. He accepted help and gave it. He let himself cry, and be afraid, and love. He knew when and how to be kind. Zuko needed to do everything for himself. He had no one to give help to, he didn't know what he wanted or needed to do in life. He was confused immensely. He had never had any experience being kind, not needing it because of his royal blood.

Iroh felt like what they were doing was wrong, but a large part of him was still a loyal Fire Nation citizen, and he wouldn't betray his country, or his nephew, by doing what logic told him to.

But seeing Aang, so beaten, so defeated was painful in itself. The young boy was barely thirteen. He needed support in life, people to help him when he was down. And right now, he wasn't getting that. His pain was other's pleasure. Being chased all over the world by many people, those that wanted to capture him, and those that wanted to adore him would try his patience, draw him instinctively closer to those that he had. A second family, since the monks that had taken care of him had all died so long ago. But now that that new family was torn from him for longer than probably ever before, he would be so vulnerable that even his friends wouldn't believe it. No, perhaps only Iroh saw that. Zuko knew Aang's pain, and saw it, but only Iroh understood it.

_In… out… in… out… in…_ Aang held his breath in and opened his eyes. Zuko was lying down, and the old man was drinking his infuriating tea. He did that every day, as many times as possible.

Aang picked up the bowl of food that had been prepared and started to down it, not tasting it. If he wasn't going to be killed today, he might as well stay alive through the night so his friends could save him. His friends…

Not only was Appa stolen and lost, but Momo had been left behind as well. Momo hadn't come back from his outing, and Aang was afraid that he had gotten lost searching for Appa, for his little lemur missed the giant flying bison as well. But the four knew they had to move out and warn as many people as possible about the eclipse, since they couldn't get to the king of Ba Sing Se. Aang had reluctantly left, hoping against hope that Momo would follow them. No such luck, and the children would have to make it on their own.

He had no one left. No one. Captured by Zuko and his insane uncle, left without Appa or Momo, and no friends. His life had truly reached an all time low. He wondered for a moment why Lady Luck and Dame Fortune hated him.

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**Author Notes:**

Woot! Author notes!

Any questions, comments, confusions, concerns, suggestions and polite criticism. In other words, please review! I'd like to hear what you think of the chapter since I'm not going to tell you how to interpret my writing. That's up to you! Use that brain that many of you think you don't have!

I take requests, such as, more badass Toph! Or, more action! Just let me know, I'd be happy to try and fit it in somewhere.

Oh, one more thing. Don't make fun of my Aang OC-ness, he's really despressed, and he feels like there's… nothing left to live for. Besides, I'm working on it. 

Now, go off and encourage me to write!


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sorry it took so long to post! I want to give you an excuse, but the only one I have is writer's block, and I feel like it isn't a very good one. So, here's the third chapter of my fanfic. Read it and love it! Or don't, I don't really care, just please leave a review!

Disclaimer: I… do… not… own… Avatar… unfortunately. But I'm working on it!

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Fierce golden eyes stared at the ground, picking the minutest traces of anyone passing through. It was rather hard, because the downpour of rain the night before had wiped away most signs. However, this girl did not need the normal tracking giveaways such as an unnaturally moved plant, thread or hair caught on a thorn, slight footprints on the ground. Her internal compass told her that she was bang on course.

The golden eyes were accompanied by smooth, well-bred skin and silky black hair up in a tightly flat bun that was decorated with a royal fire insignia. Her bangs framed the side of her shapely face. Her clothes were obviously Fire Nation, her body well-tuned yet beautiful.

Two girls were with her. One was smiling widely, her brown eyes large and excited. Her long, light brown hair was up in a high ponytail and braided. Her clothes were also Fire Nation, but her body was long and willowy, perfect for an acrobat. She was walking near to the other girl, as many others tried not to do, afraid that her boredom was contagious. But nothing could down Ty Lee's mood.

The other girl had a very pale, expressionless face. Her dark eyes took everything in, but nothing seemed to move her. Her long lack hair was up in two buns on the side of her head, and two pieces of thick hair came down from them and settled lazily on her shoulders. Long bangs were cut short just before her eyes, and she looked up through them. She was dressed also as a Fire Nation citizen, but in darker clothes. All three walked along quickly, following, and catching up.

Azula was lost in thought. She knew that her brother had been tracking the Avatar for the past three years and more. She also knew that somehow, by some miracle, he had managed to capture him for a little more than a week. No one had ever done that before. Azula viewed her brother as a miserable failure, with no more skills for anything than a hog-monkey. Her uncle was powerful, yet in her mind he was rarely there to make a difference, and she had gotten him good that one time after Omashu…

Azula's lips turned down in a small frown. Her uncle had redirected her lightning when she had first caught them; a move even she, the firebending prodigy, did not know.

The princess picked up the pace, and her two friends hurried alongside her. She smiled, her eyes narrowed. She was catching up with her tea-crazed uncle and her underachieving brother. The three were not using any mounts because they knew that the Avatar's friends were following as well, although the girls had quickly passed them in their tracking.

Their feelings are getting in the way, Azula silently scoffed. She returned her attention to their path and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Three traitors all in one place. One probably subdued and without strength, one unsuspecting, and one… well, one was her uncle. The words sounded lame, even in her head. Azula blinked quickly to get rid of the thoughts and glanced at her companions.

Ty Lee grinned and looked up at the clear blue sky above them. Ever since she had joined Azula, there was never nothing to do. Although the circus had been perfect, the girl now realized it had lacked something… probably, old friends. The ones she had played with when she was little. Now, all three were together again. She could tease Mai, be with Azula and… well, put her skills to a good use.

The acrobat couldn't resist anymore, and she bounced and did a cartwheel, landing easily at the end. Mai looked on, bored, and Azula just looked at her before starting to walk again. Ty Lee was a little disappointed, but she slung her arms around her two friends' shoulders and dropped into step with them. So far, this journey had been fun. Especially since there was that cute boy who was traveling with the Avatar.

A small smile danced around Mai's lips as Ty Lee put her arms around them. This was where she would be until she couldn't stand anymore. This is where she would fight, by the princess's side, until she didn't have the strength to anymore. This was her place now; if was better than being trapped in Omashu where the rest of her family was right then. And with Azula, there was less of a chance of being bored. Mai was _always _bored, so that really was saying something.

For a moment Mai wondered what had happened to Zuko that day he was exiled, when he was still a prince. She knew that his father had done something to him; but what? Rumors had been flying at the speed of lightning around the Fire Nation, even in the most remote places. _The Fire Lord's son has been banished! _But renditions of the story differed in important facts, and grew wilder with each retelling. For some reason, Mai hadn't brought it up with Azula yet.

Mai shifted in her robe and kept walking. They would see Zuko soon enough, since they were tracking him. It would be interesting to see if she still, um, felt the same way about him.

Her smile widened, even though Mai tried to hide it. She knew that Ty Lee loved to tease her about her attraction to Zuko, and it had been very embarrassing when she was younger, before she had learned to shrug it off. But sometimes, Ty Lee still struck a nerve, and Mai's insides burned at what her friend said. However, she got over it, and Ty Lee remained frustrated, wondering why she couldn't get to her friend like she used to be able to.

Mai stopped, looking down. She said in her slightly flat voice. "Azula, look at this." She pointed at a deep set of footprints in the ground, and bark scraped off the trunk of a tree. It looked like somebody tired had rested against this tree, only last night.

Azula inspected the place and smiled. She straightened up and looked at her friends. "We'll be with my dear brother again soon." Her eyes flashed and she turned around, surveying the rest of the area around the tree.

"Great, we'll see Zuko again," cooed Ty Lee, glancing sidelong at the other girl, but Mai didn't flinch. A small frown plastered itself onto the acrobat's face, but her eyes still glittered.

"What now, Azula?" she asked, going over to her friend and resting a hand on her shoulder. Azula looked at them, satisfied with the other clues left by the three travelers. Mai moved up beside them and looked at the fire princess inquiringly.

"Now, we keep walking." Azula told them, her hands balling into fists. "Now, we follow them."

She didn't say anything more. Ty Lee shrugged at Mai, who looked stoically back. Azula began to walk, her mind drifting over the encounters she had had with the three before now. There had been that time when she had almost convinced Zuko and her uncle to come back to the Fire Nation with her as prisoners. It would have worked too, except her idiot captain ruined it at the last moment. She had had to fight Zuko, which admittedly hadn't been much of a fight. And that was when her uncle had redirected her lightning. The thought left a sour taste in her mind.

Then she had first met up with the Avatar and his creepy little peasant friends in Omashu, which the Fire Nation had taken over. She had almost gotten the Avatar when he had tried to escape with King Bumi. However, she hadn't gotten him, and the peasants had beaten her friends, surprisingly.

Then there was that time when she had tracked the Avatar and his friends by their shedding bison. When Aang had tried to lead her off the trail, she had tracked him to an abandoned town and fought with the enemies and the traitors, who were apparently on the same side. That was when she had payback for her uncle's audacity to be better than her. Then she had escaped with Mai and Ty Lee.

And now this. She would soon have all three in her grasp, because she had faith in the three, and when the others had escaped it had just been lucky for them. Humph! Azula nearly laughed out loud. Luck! I don't need luck. I might be lucky, but I'd be perfect without it. Good thing luck and fortune favor me. She smiled.

The three of them walked and walked, not talking very much. Ty Lee and Mai threw glances at each other every once and a while, and it was obvious what they meant. Azula was obsessed, more than usual. Something about this situation was nagging at her and she was determined to set it right.

They plodded on, the trees merging into one green and brown blur, rushing by them quickly. The sky flew past, and clouds were barely seen. The ground seemed to be slipping out from under their feet, and tears entered all of their eyes. Not from emotion, but a sudden wind that kicked up out of nowhere, or maybe it was just where the three Fire Nation girls were. Whatever the reason, they could hardly see where they were going, and twice Ty Lee almost walked into a tree before seeing it and moving out of the way just in time.

The sun started sinking, and stained the sky different colors. The rainbow was smudged together, so you couldn't tell where one color ended and another began. The clouds were large and puffy, many of them a beautiful golden color that shed a delicate light on the girls. The trees were disfigured, and shadows stretched and deepened, giving illusions to space and depth.

Ty Lee looked at the colors spreading from the setting sun, marveling at how something so simple could be so pretty. There was blue, orange, red, purple, a dark gold, a light yellow and a deep indigo that almost looked black against the brighter colors.

_Blue is for the Water Tribe girl._

She was a good bender, but Ty Lee had gotten her. The acrobat paused for a moment to wonder why she was thinking about her enemies, and connecting them to the sunset no less! But it didn't matter, and Ty Lee went on in her thoughts.

_Purple is for the cute boy with the boomerang._

She grinned and saw him in mind's eye, knocking Mai's dagger out of her hand, his arms and legs going limp when she hit him with the pressure points and paralyzed him. He was a good fighter…

_Orange is for the earthbender that Azula says they have now._

From what she had heard, the girl was blind, but a very good bender anyway. She was fierce and sarcastic too, and even though Ty Lee had never seen her, she could imagine her in her head, and the girl looked smug.

_The yellow is for the Avatar._

His happy-go-lucky attitude was almost like hers, although she had never really been with him up close. He was a very good bender though, and had escaped Azula many times, although the acrobat refrained from mentioning that in front of the princess. She tended to set fire to whatever was closest.

_Gold is for Zuko._

The ex-prince who Mai had had, and still did, have a crush on. The one who had never wanted to play with them, and who she hadn't seen since she was much younger. She would see him soon though, that was for sure. Azula never lost what she was tracking…

_The dark blue is for Mai._

Mai was a great friend, but she was cold and distant, more like fiery _ice_ than anyone in the Fire Nation, or anyone that Ty Lee had ever met in general. She was always bored, but Ty Lee would not separate their little group for anything, now that they were back together.

_And red is definitely for Azula._

Azula. Red for blood. That was what popped up immediately in Ty Lee brain when she thought of the color red. Azula was a Fire Princess, and great tracker, amazing bender and fighter. But, at least for the two she was traveling with now, she was also a friend. And Ty Lee would never label Azula cruel.

The sun had set while Ty Lee was thinking, and Azula threw out a hand to stop her friends. They froze and waited, eyes watching her intently. The princess lifted her head and crept forward, the hunter stalking her prey professionally. A gap between low branches of two trees gave her all the space she needed to see. The hunter watched the hunted, barely breathing lest they heard her.

Her uncle was starting a fire with a punch towards the pit. It erupted instantaneously, not too high, perfect for cooking. He then settled himself down in front of it, motioning for her brother to do the same thing.

Azula started when she saw Zuko. His hair had grown out so his bangs stopped just short of his eyes, shaggy and good-looking. Azula smirked. Her brother would never be good-looking, no matter how he tried. He sat down grumpily, for it was clear that he wanted to keep traveling.

The girl's eyes kept scanning until they came across another shape, leaning against a tree as far away as his two captors would let him be. He almost looked like a shadow, his head hanging down and his body limp against the tree. When he looked up, it was as though a shadow was over his eyes, or a storm cloud. Azula's stomach clenched at the look, but she relaxed and let the emotion fade.

She moved slowly backwards until she was out of the range and turned around to find Mai and Ty Lee very close to her. They waited eagerly, knowing some action was about to come next. Azula was ready for it too, but she wasn't naïve.

The princess sat down, and the others did too. "It's time to plan." She told them quietly. "My brother and uncle are by the fire, and the Avatar looks very unable to fight."

"We can take them," Ty Lee informed them without hesitation.

"I know," replied Azula. "But we need a plan. We can't just go storming in there. But it doesn't have to be complicated, since this will be easy. I'm thinking something as simple as just waiting until they're all asleep and then taking them?"

Mai thought for a moment before nodding. "Sounds fine with me." She sounded rather bored again.

Ty Lee looked disappointed. "Does that mean that we aren't going to fight them?" she asked, her ponytail almost drooping.

Azula looked at her. "Oh, I'm sure we'll do some fighting before this is over." She assured her long-time friend.

"Oh good," said Ty Lee, and she promptly lay down. Mai joined her soon after, but Azula stayed up, watching the moon rise. Her gold eyes followed its progress. "Now we wait." She whispered. She had heard that the moon spirit was a young girl from the Northern Water Tribe.

"You just watch moon spirit. Your reign will soon come to an end. You watch,"

The moon looked down sadly at the three groups of people traveling, and you could almost see a girl with snow white hair and a pretty face watching, tears flowing from her eyes.

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**Author's Notes:**

I love you, I love you all! Review please, anything is welcome… except flames, but criticism is fine, I'd love to know how to become a better writer. Especially tips for how to portray Ozai's Angels, because this was the hardest chapter to write.

So, go to school or work, do your homework, hang out with friends etc, and find time in there somewhere for about two seconds to write me a review.

Oh no! I saw Lake Laogai, and it completely ruined this fanfic. Oh well, life goes on right?

I don't really know where I'm going with this fic, but I have a question for you readers that I really want you to answer before I post the next chapter. And that is, would you like it if I brought in some OC characters? Maybe for romances, maybe not, I don't know yet. I'd just like your opinion.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again, and welcome back. For those of you who have stuck with me this far… wow. I never thought anyone would actually. But thank you! Here's the fourth chapter in this story. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: If Avatar was mine, I wouldn't have to resort to pathetic Avatar-a-thons with my friends. Alas, not all wishes come true.

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The night caressed the bodies of children as they lay, the blackness clinging to some things but shying away from others, and the moonlight sliding over some while avoiding the others like the plague. Stars twinkled happily, unaware that down below, in a seemingly unimportant forest, great events were about to happen that could change the world. And then why should they care? If humans killed each other off if wouldn't affect them at all.

The soft light of the moon sighed as it fell into a clearing where three bodies slept. It gently held the Water Tribe boy in its arms, rocking him back in forth with something like motherly care. A whisper in his ear made him shiver and roll over, pulling his sleeping bag closer to him. The whisper came again, and he snuggled down deeper, mumbling slightly in his sleep. If you listened closely, you could almost hear him faintly say, "Yue…"

The moonlight also hugged the body of a Water Tribe girl close. She was sleeping next to her brother, and a frown spread over her face. The moon tried to comfort her, but she turned restlessly in her sleep, unwilling to let happiness break down her wall of unpleasantness.

Another figure was touched by the moon through the open side of a rock tent where a small girl was sleeping. She sighed and smiled at it. The moon was something strange and unfamiliar to her. Yet… she loved it as the moon loved her, and she fell asleep in its soft caresses.

In another clearing not so far away three other bodies lay sleeping, although one a child, one a young man and one a much older man. This time the sly night and soft moonlight crept into the place of their rest. Tentatively, the moonlight bathed all three of them, especially the boy with an arrow on his head. He moved in his sleep, unable to get comfortable in any position.

The other two were also lit up, but not as strongly. Darkness crept into the spots the moon missed. It cradled them almost roughly, but they did not wake up. The man fought something in his sleep, but the adolescent was sleeping soundly, his mouth curved into a small smile. The night favored him, and hugged him close.

In a clearing just on the other side of some trees were three other girls. Two were sleeping, and shadows craved their bodies, but one wasn't dreaming. She blended so well into the night that you wouldn't know she was there if it wasn't for her gold eyes. She watched the moon, and the power in those eyes made it turn away from her, favoring to lavish its gifts upon ones more to its taste. The girl didn't mind. She pressed herself back into the darkness, loving it.

Azula felt her neck aching from staring up for hours, and her back was stiff and uncomfortable. The tree she was leaning against had long since been hurting painfully, but she didn't move to become more comfortable. Her eyes itched for sleep, but her brain wasn't tired at all.

The fire princess decided that it was time to move, and she stood, ignoring the protests of her body. Moving silently over to the other two girls, she gently nudged them. Both woke immediately, and one bounced up excitedly with a smile on her face.

The other one rose with an 'oh-why-do-I-even-bother?' attitude, sighing slightly but following the other two as she readied her weapons, just in case they would be needed, although she doubted it. They were perfectly able to handle the idiots without weapons.

Azula checked to see that her two friends were ready before she nodded and started off. Their quiet padding ended when they could see the three. Azula's eyes gleamed in a hungry, almost disturbing way. She glanced at the others again before starting forward, keeping as silent as possible. She smiled and gestured to the Avatar, telling Mai and Ty Lee that she would get him.

They nodded. Mai went immediately for Zuko, so Ty Lee took Iroh. She was too busy concentrating to tease her friend. Ty Lee knew when it was okay to joke, and when it was time to stop.

Azula made her way to Aang, her lips dry with anticipation. She readied her hands with flames, trying to keep them small so that they wouldn't light up the camp and wake everyone up. The princess swallowed and readied herself to hit Aang over the head with a fireball.

Aang shifted uncomfortably. He watched the three girls come into the clearing without really realizing what he was seeing. He was so tired, but his mind wouldn't let him go to sleep. It had been this way since he had gotten captured. So tired, but unable to get some relief by resting.

When Azula started to approach him, he began to panic, but he didn't know it. His body wanted to twitch and spasm, but his common sense kept him in place. When she lit her hands, his brain finally saw what was happening. He turned and looked at her straight on for a moment, his mouth hanging open. Then Azula thrust her fire forward, and Aang rolled away before standing up, getting into a battle stance.

_Shit!_ Azula thought, watching him move around as airbenders were wan to do. She spun and unleashed another bolt of blue fire at him, making him drop to the ground. At the same time, he put his wrists together and blew a large gust of wind at her. Azula deflected it with a fire shield that she then spread outwards, the blue flames trying to lick his sleeves. Aang nearly swore loudly, but saved his breath for the fighting. His sleeves caught fire as he just barely made it out of the way. The Avatar would have put it out with water, but there was none nearby.

Zuko's eyes opened instantly at the sound of fighting. He looked up to see Mai's face over him. She stared for a moment, and the man realized that she had never seen him with his scar before. Using this opportunity, he kicked out at her, releasing a trail of flame. Mai jumped back, her surprise hidden now by her impassive features. Zuko jumped up and avoided the goth girl's daggers just barely. It was now clear that the three were attacking them.

Aang ran, desperately thinking of what he should do. In his initial panic, he hadn't realized that he could put out the fire with air. The young boy did that now, and sighed as the sensation of burning skin left him. He flinched, his clothes stuck to his wound, but he kept running, knowing that Azula was right behind him.

Iroh watched Ty Lee get closer through eyes that were slits. He had seen the whole scene play out, and kept calm, waiting for the perfect moment. Ty Lee took another step closer and Iroh unleashed a fire blast at her face. She flipped out of the way, jumping up at the same time and landing in a tree. Iroh waited, not wanting to set the forest on fire. The acrobat noticed this and took advantage of it, keeping behind the leaves as she moved until she could see an opening.

Azula let loose another barrage of fireballs at Aang, furious that he could still be up after a burning like the one she had given him. The Avatar unconsciously groped for his glider before remembering that the other three still had it. He growled and swiped with his foot, momentarily knocking the fire princess off of her feet. She jumped back up, catlike, and threw two punches in succession, making Aang have to duck and weave.

Zuko was ready to have a good fight with Mai, when he got bowled over by a strong force. It was Aang, and the Avatar became entangled in Zuko, his desperation about getting away from Azula and her creepy blue fire making him oblivious to his captor. "What are you doing?" hissed Zuko, shoving Aang off him and ducking just in time to avoid some more of Mai's daggers.

"Running!" replied Aang, blocking a bolt of lightning with a lot of air. The air crackled around him, and he felt heat thump against his face. He flinched and ignored Zuko's stunned look that he had actually said something. Azula threw a punch at him, and Aang blocked it again before sending his own attack out. Azula dropped and rolled, shooting fire at Aang's head before giving another one to her uncle, whose back was turned. She grinned when it hit him. He cried out, but sent one right back, and then copied her move by sending another one to Mai. Mai blocked it with a metal spike, sparks shooting from it. She dropped it, the metal almost glowing red from the heat. Zuko took advantage of her being distracted to get her feet out from under her, but was stopped from doing anything with his hands when Ty Lee hit his pressure points in his arms- hard. He would have grabbed them if he could move them, but he couldn't.

Aang hit himself in the head. He could use earthbending! How stupid was he? But panicking had taken away his sense. Now he could feel his head cooling off, and moved his arms roughly, resulting in Ty Lee being launched into the air. She tumbled, but managed to land easily on her feet, and went after Iroh again.

Iroh had been fighting with Azula. He kicked at her and followed the fire, running straight for his niece. Azula ducked from his fire and attacked his already burnt shoulder, making the wound deeper. She grinned maliciously, and kept up her relentless attack. Iroh spun, knocking Azula off her feet. She landed in an earth cage. Aang grinned and pushed Mai into a tree with an air blast. Her head hit it, and she dropped down onto her knees, holding it.

Ty Lee frowned and went for Aang. He started fighting with her, their blows going back and forth so fast that they almost couldn't be seen. When one finished a move, the other would start up with another, in a nimble, never-ending dance.

Zuko created his fire daggers with a roar, finding that he could move his arms again, and plunged into the fray, seeing that Azula had blasted her way out of the tank that Aang had made for her. She looked around. Azula grinned and hit Zuko right in the chest with a lightning bolt. Zuko dodged it, but it caught his sleeve and made him cry out in pain. His sister grinned, but was hard put to block a thrust from his fire daggers. Azula grabbed his upper arms and flipped him, right over her shoulder and into a bush behind her. Zuko made to get up, but Azula was two steps ahead of him. She knocked his feet out from under him, and he went right down again.

Iroh watched Mai carefully, knowing that Ty Lee and Azula were busy with the two young boys fighting them. He saw Mai get up and smiled kindly at her. "What are you doing with someone like my niece?" he asked, hiding his wince as he folded his hands. Mai just glared at him, and sent spikes into his shirt, pinning him a tree behind him. Iroh just smiled, making Mai want to vomit. She put more into his legs and advanced. Iroh waited until she was close before heaving his body weight forward, releasing him from the spikes' grasps.

Aang pushed up a rock and threw it at Ty Lee, who swerved and instead headed for Iroh, pushing his pressure points as she had done with Zuko. Aang growled and hit her with an attack while her back was turned, causing the acrobat to start bleeding in the back of her head. She stumbled, starting to get dizzy and see spots. Mai spun around and threw daggers at Aang, who was pinned to a tree. He stayed there, panting heavily as he watched what was going on, trying to move his arms and legs.

Zuko snarled and wrapped a fire whip around his sister's leg, pulling her down on top of him. Gold eyes stared into a twin pair, and they both didn't say anything for a moment that seemed to last an eternity. Then Azula smiled, the very sight making Zuko shiver. "You lose," she whispered, and hit him hard in the back of his head. The exiled fire prince fainted immediately. Azula pushed herself off of his chest and looked around, dusting her hands off.

Iroh was lying on the ground, unable to move his body parts, and Mai was standing above him, preparing to knock him out with the butt end of one of her daggers. Azula looked away as she did this, preferring to see the Avatar pinned to a tree and not able to get away. She walked towards him, an evil smile on her face as she saw what she had done to him.

Ty Lee was sitting on the ground, her head in her hands. She bit her lip and tried to stay awake, but the darkness that was creeping up on her was so inviting. She just wanted to sink back into it and never wake up again. Mai strained to pull Iroh up, holding him so Azula could see him. "What now, Azula?" she asked.

The fire princess stopped right in front of Aang, who was glaring daggers at her. "We'll take them all." She told her two friends, turning away from the young boy's look. She briskly walked over to her friends, looking down at Ty Lee who had slumped back onto the ground.

A rustling in the trees alerted Azula and Mai to another's presence. They straightened up, flinching at the pain it cost them. Azula did some quick calculations. Ty Lee was out, that was obvious. Mai was hurt and winded, and it pained Azula to walk fast. There was no way that they could face someone else, especially if they were who she thought they were.

Azula growled but said, "We'll take my uncle, since we've already got him up. You carry Ty Lee." Mai looked startled, but nodded and gave Azula the old man. The rustling came again, louder this time as though the people were running towards where the sounds had come from. It was night, and the fire would have lit up the forest. Azula spared one more look for her brother and Aang, but she told Mai, "My brother will come after uncle. He loves him. He'll bring the Avatar too, I'm sure of it. Zuzu wouldn't want to lose his precious catch."

Azula held Iroh under his arms, and began to drag him backwards as Mai hoisted Ty Lee so that she was hanging over her shoulder. They walked out of the camp, leaving everything else where it was. Aang still struggled to get out of his restraints, but it wasn't working. Azula stopped for a second to shoot fire at the trees where the sound had come from, before leaving, following Mai.

A tall oak caught, and flames licked hungrily at it, quickly consuming it. But it wasn't enough. The fire spread fast, eating all the trees that it could. First the two trees on the sides of the oak, then the next ones, until one whole side of the clearing was just fire, dancing and reaching for the sky, sparks flying everywhere.

Zuko was still unconscious, but Aang was wide awake, and desperately trying to get away. He was right in the line of the fire, and it was coming towards him like a monster, growling savagely and impatient to eat him. The panic he had felt before was starting bubble up again, and Aang found that he couldn't think straight. He started to scream, feeling the heat against his face, searing his already burnt skin.

The rustling was its loudest, but you almost couldn't hear it over the crackle of flames. His three friends, Katara, Sokka and Toph, burst out of the forest, looking around wildly. They saw Aang and hurried over to him, aghast at his wounds and the forest fire that was already high.

"Who cares!" shouted Aang as Katara began fussing over his hurt arms. They were surprised because they thought that he was going to be ecstatic to see them. "Stop the fire!" he cried, struggling to get out of his stuck position. "Before I'm glued to the tree!"

Katara took a step backwards, but saw the sense in his words. She turned to face the fire, preparing to give it an onslaught of strong water balls. She uncorked her pouch that held her bending water and started to put out the fire. It was very strong, and her water turned to steam as it connected with the flames.

Sokka unpinned Aang from the tree, and the young boy fell gratefully into his friend's arms. Toph walked toward where Zuko was. She stopped in front of him and shouted. "I think I found Angry Boy,"

Katara immediately stopped and sprinted to where Toph was. Sure enough, there was Zuko, lying immobilized because he wasn't conscious. She felt her blind rage starting to get her again, but Toph grabbed her arm, as though reading her mind. "Katara," she told her. The waterbender looked into the blind girl's very pale green eyes. "We have to get away from here. There's a forest fire, and you and Aang can't stop it with so little water!"

Katara tried to resist it, but she knew that Toph was right. All three of them were tired from running all night, and Aang was in no condition to fight. She had seen his burns. "I know," she whispered. The teen turned away, but Toph stopped her.

"We have to take him with us," she told her. Katara clenched her fists but nodded. She could confront him later. But he _would_ pay for what he had done. She would make him pay.

Sokka helped Aang walk along, and Toph and Katara dragged Zuko between them. They walked as fast as they could, trying to get away from the fire that was spreading.

"This karma is going to come back and haunt us," Sokka told himself, but Aang heard him. "We would put out the fire…" he trailed off, knowing that he agreed with Sokka when it came right down to it.

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**Author Notes:**

Wow, long chapter. My fire is not currently lit. Light it with reviews! I can't stress how much reviews really motivate people to write.

So, I hope you liked it. Action is always fun. I hope I gave a good reason for Iroh to have been captured. I didn't want him to come across as lazy or weak, cause Iroh's neither of those things. He rocks! Sorry if the fight seemed to last really long, (if you don't like that) but I had to let all the characters get a go at someone else, and there's six of them.

Oh, and don't worry, Aang _will _be happy to see his friends, but later, not this chapter.

My question about OC characters can wait, but not for long. I _really _need you guys to answer that question about them, because I have some pretty cool ones, but I don't know how well they would fit in this story. I need you to tell me! Wow, long author notes…

So pleeeeeeeease review for me! I live off of reviews. 


	5. Chapter 5

Hello, and welcome back. I am your host, SylverEyes and… I can't think of anything else to say, so let's get on with the chapter shall we? This one is what happened to the Gaang when they all woke up. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I have dreams about owning Avatar. But I'm not sure if you'd like that. grins mischievously

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Zuko opened his eyes and saw a lot of black something in front of his face. He looked at it curiously for a moment wondering what it was and why it was in his camp. Wouldn't his uncle have noticed? Where was his uncle anyway? He normally snored unabashedly, and it drove him nuts…

He focused on the black thing that he now recognized to be hair, and tried to swat it away, moving his arms feebly. A voice somewhere above him said, "He's up now."

Noises. A lot of blue entered Zuko's field of vision, and Katara's face was brought down next to the black hair. "Toph, move out of the way."

Katara moved around Zuko, checking his wounds carefully. She sat back on her heels, satisfied that he was healed. The prince was surprised at how cold her voice was when she told him, "You had an arm burn and a head injury, probably from being knocked out. You also had quite a few bruises everywhere, but they're all gone. You'll need lots of rest and you'll probably be feeling stiff for a while." Then she stood up abruptly and moved quickly away, as though afraid he was contagious.

The girl with black hair now was what he could see, and he noticed that she had very pale green eyes, and her black bangs hung in her face. He just looked up at her and she stared back down at him, not saying anything. Finally, not being able to stand the silence, he spat, "What do you want?"

The girl scowled and told him, "Watch who you mouth off to around here. You aren't a prince here."

Zuko chose not to answer that particular comment and tried to sit up, groaning as his muscles stiffly followed his instructions. This little girl had hit him right in the core, and she had been horribly blunt about it. He would rather talk to his uncle, who still respected him. His uncle…

He had been listening to the water girl talk without actually hearing what she was saying, but now it all hit home to him. The fight with Azula, and those horrible last moments where they had stared into each other's eyes. Zuko shuddered and looked around hastily, hoping beyond hope that his uncle was there. Instead all he saw was a stupid water tribe boy, the Avatar, who looked like he had some nasty burns (Zuko couldn't help but grin slightly) and the girl who had talked back to him. "Where's my uncle?" asked Zuko, squinting at the cave's entrance.

"The old man?" asked Katara, coming back inside from the ledge that she had been sitting on right outside of their little cave. "We didn't see him when we got there. All we saw was a huge fire, you knocked out and Aang stuck to a tree."

Zuko was surprised at the icy tone of Katara's voice. Who was this girl? "Azula must have him…" he muttered to himself. He looked around, despairing. He was with his enemies and injured. His uncle was being held captive by his monster of a sister, and to top it all off, he was in pain. Things couldn't get much worse.

Sokka glared at the prince, not liking the way he was quiet. "Can't think of a good insult to throw at someone who just healed you?" he asked scathingly, sharpening his boomerang. Normally Katara would have berated him for this, but she was just as angry that they hadn't left him to burn in the camp.

"Shut up, Sokka," Toph told him, not so much to defend Zuko as to have an excuse to snap at the warrior. The boy glared at her, but didn't say anything.

Aang sat silent through it all, basking in the happy glow that he was with his friends again, after an awful, long week without them. He looked around, acutely aware that there was probably a dumb smile splashed across his face. And he was glad.

The gears in Zuko's head were turning quickly after being awake for only five minutes. He looked around. It was clear that he had been healed by the girl. Why? He had no idea. Why they hadn't just left him when they were done, or not even taken him at all? Again, no answer to that question. However, he did know that the Avatar was right there. He also knew that his uncle, the only person who had ever really been there for him when no one else was, was in his maniac sister's hands.

That thought chilled Zuko's insides. His uncle was probably being tortured right now, and he was powerless to stop him. Something inside of him snapped. His heart rate quickened and he felt fire growing at his hands. Zuko closed his eyes and shook his head. "No." he said. Then, "No, _no, _NO!"

The small girl, instead of moving away from him, moved closer. "Crying over your old uncle?" she asked. But contrary to her voice, her hand moved out, reaching for his shoulder. He could feel it. It was too much.

"Don't touch me!" Zuko's voice was harsh and hoarse. The prince stood up and moved away from the four, all of whom were looking at him. "Why did you bring me?" he asked them, his gold eyes boring into them, as though looking at their very souls. "Why did you heal me? Why didn't you kill me?!" he stormed outside onto the ledge and sat down with his feet hanging over the edge.

Katara looked darkly at her brother and muttered, "I would have," Sokka nodded solemnly, and put down his boomerang. "I've asked myself those questions." He replied, gazing out to where the young man's back could be seen, hunched over.

Toph sat down and stared at the ground even though she couldn't really see it. He had sounded really upset to her, and for some reason that bothered her. Wasn't she supposed to hate him? He had captured Aang for over a week and yet she didn't want him to be upset. What was _wrong _with her?

Aang beamed at his two water tribe friends who looked incredulously back, but smiled anyway. Then he plopped down next to his earthbending teacher and looked at her. "You okay?" he asked, gazing into her large eyes.

"I'm fine!" snapped Toph, turning away from him. She didn't need his help. She could handle her own feelings.

Aang shook his head, but was much too happy to be hurt. There was a bubble of happiness swelling inside him that he was determined no one would burst, although that was becoming harder with the attitude of his friends, and the dramatic prince.

The Avatar shook his head again. This was stupid. He walked over to the siblings and tried to placate them. "You guys, I'm back now. No reason to hold a grudge, right?" he hoped fervently that the answer would be 'no'.

Katara looked at him like he was insane. "Aang, he just held you captive for a week. He took you away from us, when you already didn't have Appa and Momo. You're just going to forgive him like that?"

"Well," answered Aang slowly, not wanting to make his friend explode. "We just fought on the same side. And I'm not captive anymore. I know-" he added hastily when Katara took a step toward him, "that he has been chasing us for as long as I can remember, but I'm just glad to be with you guys again. Can't you be happy to see me?" the last question was in a meek and sad voice, and Katara felt her heart breaking.

She walked forward very quickly and grabbed Aang around the shoulders, hugging him tightly. "Of course I'm happy to see you," Katara told him, her voice muffled and eyes closed, but tears still leaking out.

Zuko felt a pang in his heart as he watched the two friends hugging. The last time he had hugged his uncle, really shown his care for him was at the North Pole. It seemed like such a long time ago… like a lifetime. His heart was squeezed tighter as Sokka and Toph joined their two friends, all standing there silently. They cared for each other so much.

The exiled fire prince looked out at the spectacular view that he got from his position. You could see everything, the range of mountains curving out of sight, encompassing the large forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. To his right, he could spot the sea, sparkling against the sun and dancing merrily in the wind.

But there… right there, right in front of his vision was a black spot, and scar on the face of the land. A large section had been burnt out, leaving a whole in the heart of the woods. Zuko unconsciously reached up and softly touched his scar. _We are alike,_ he told the forest silently.

Judging from the sun's position, it was past noon, which would explain his rumbling stomach. But he didn't want to eat. All he wanted was his uncle back, and it didn't seem like that was going to be happening any time soon. Zuko sighed, making sure that it wasn't loud enough for the young kids in the cave behind him to hear it. "Uncle, tell me what I should do,"

But for once there was no answer. No confident sound of the voice he had grown accustomed to hearing every day. No proverb or advice that would somehow, in a roundabout way, help him with whatever he was doing at the time. Zuko would have to figure out this one on his own. The thought didn't please him at all.

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Sokka grunted to himself, looking at the equally disgruntled and distant prince who sat across the cave from him. Whose bright idea had it been to leave him alone with Zuko? Oh yeah. Toph's. Of course it was. For some reason, that girl loved to cause him physical and mental pain. If this wasn't harsh punishment, he didn't know what was.

"We'll be back before you know it," Toph had told him while Katara and Aang snickered in the background. Sokka had grudgingly agreed to stay, since he had been complaining lately about how he had to do all the hunting. That, and that Katara had frozen him to the ground when he refused.

The three seemed to want someone to keep an eye on Zukp, but Sokka personally thought that it would be welcome if the prince left in the middle of the night. But Zuko would probably take Aang with him. In fact, he was probably already plotting their downfall. Which, when you realized it, wasn't such a good thing. The boy sighed. Now it was up to him to talk Zuko out of a plan. Great.

Sokka looked over at Zuko again, who was meditating, concentrating on his breathing. He studied him for a moment longer before saying, "Why don't you leave?" _Forward start to a conversation._

Zuko cracked open one eye, furious that the peasant had interrupted his meditating process. He didn't answer, but asked his own question. "Why do you travel with a brat?"

The warrior bristled at his friend used in such a context, but didn't lash out, trying to keep a level head. "Because Aang's going to save the world." He looked at Zuko and added in a whisper, not really sure why he was saying this, "And I admire him for that. But don't tell him I said that."

Zuko looked disgusted and asked, "Why? He's a stupid twelve year old brat. He's dragging you all over the world, and you always end up getting into trouble with him and your peasant of a sister. And now that tiny girl. You respect him, admire him?" Zuko snorted. "You're worse than I thought."

"Don't insult us, you sad excuse for a prince!" snarled Sokka. Zuko didn't react, but felt his temper rising higher. He was calmed by Sokka's next words though, mostly because he was surprised.

"That little airbender brat, as you keep referring to him, is one of the bravest kids I know. Do you have any idea how much courage it takes him to get up everyday? Not knowing whether he'll be killed. Wondering if he'll be able to control his emotions and not go into the Avatar State. Trying to keep away from you, the insane blue fire woman and her dangerous ladies, and practically the whole rest of the world? No. Because you'll never have a heart to step into his shoes. And you'll never know because of that."

Zuko was speechless. He tried to make a sound, but the words just wouldn't form in his throat. He contented himself with closing his eyes again and trying to meditate. Sokka didn't stop though. He wasn't going to until he had his full say.

"And Toph? She is a twelve year old blind girl who is a master earthbender. She's helped us with so many things, I couldn't count them. Her mother and father confined her to their house for twelve years, but she still found a way. She is so strong, because she never shows that she needs help."

"My sister is a master waterbender. Our mother died by the Fire Nation, and our father went off to fight in the war. When she was trying to learn waterbending at the North Pole, there were no girls allowed, but she proved that she should be taught."

Sokka's blue eyes stared at Zuko's even though the prince's were closed. "So don't you accuse us of not being admirable."

Zuko ignored the infuriated boy, and continued to meditate. A few things had registered, and he was surprised at how bad the children's life seemed to be. But his was worse. His was definitely worse.

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The others returned with dinner and began to cook it. The delicious smell wafted through the cave, but Zuko found himself repulsed by it. How could people enjoy things like food when his uncle had been captured by "the insane blue fire woman"? He sat outside again, staring out at the black part of the forest, and contemplating how to break out Iroh.

As the four started their food, a thought made its way slowly through his brain. He couldn't do it by himself. His sister had her ship, her friends, and of course, her own fire. He would need help, but who would help him? Surely no one would willingly give him aid.

But there were three powerful benders sitting in a cave behind him. He would have to take the other along too, but he might be able to do something. They wanted to help Aang; right then, he just wanted his uncle back.

If he forced them to help him, then he might also be able to take the Avatar with him after they were done. It was so simple, so easy that Zuko mentally kicked himself. Why had it taken him so long to figure this out? Normally his head was full of ideas, plots to capture Aang. Grief must have clouded his vision.

But now that he had a plan, his mind was working smoothly again. _I'll get you out of there soon, uncle. _Zuko promised to the wind.

"Wow, Katara, this is really good," mumbled Toph around a mouthful of their dinner. They were all sitting around a fire that they had had to start with spark rocks, since Zuko refused to help them.

"Yeah," agreed Aang, who was eating an apple right then. "I can't believe how much I've missed real food since-" but he was cut off suddenly, feeling a heat in the middle of his back, between his shoulder blades.

His friends were looking above his head, furiously to where Zuko was now standing, his hand holding the fireball menacingly. Katara wanted to shout at him, but settled for glaring just like her brother and Toph were doing.

"Alright, you three move, he gets it." Zuko said simply. They didn't move. "Good. Now. All of you are going to help me recapture my uncle from my sister."

"You're crazy!" spewed Sokka, standing up. Aang gasped as the fire singed his shirt, unbearably hot. The boy stopped, looking daggers at Zuko.

"Why would we help you?" asked Toph, her voice rough and altogether more imposing than Sokka's.

"Because I'll kill the Avatar if you don't," Zuko replied, smirking.

At this Katara laughed. "You wouldn't kill him. He'll just be reborn!"

"Oh yeah?" Zuko looked right into Katara's eyes. "Try me," he growled. Katara looked away. "Anyways, if I killed him and he was reborn, he wouldn't grow up in time to be defeat my father before Sozin's Comet arrives. Oh yes," he told the travelers at their looks of surprise. "Of course I know about Sozin's Comet. I'm a firebender."

Katara bit her lip and looked at the others. They all looked worried too. It seemed like Zuko was perfectly capable of doing what he threatened. And he was right, but they hadn't been bargaining on him knowing that little piece of information. Sokka looked at his sister and Toph. The two girls nodded. Aang just gulped.

"Alright," said Sokka resentfully, sitting back down. "We'll help you." Zuko nodded and went back outside, sitting with his legs hanging over the edge again, watching the sun which had started setting during their confrontation.

"Want me to throw him off?" asked Toph, glaring at Zuko's back. Katara looked at though she was going to say yes, but refrained from doing so. Aang massaged his throat.

Their previous journey would have to be postponed for a while.

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**Author's Notes:**

This chapter was fun to write. Reactions are always my favorites, because they have to be so precise and good… I sound stupid, so I'll just tell you what you need you know. If you think Sokka was out of character, just tell me. I think he wasn't though, because he has his moments.

We'll find out what happened to Azula and the others in the next chapter, so look for that. Also, I'm going to be posting another story soon, so make sure you keep an eye out! If you like my writing, that is, but if you didn't, you probably wouldn't be reading this, right?

You guys wanted to know what the OC characters were like, right? So, here's the info. I don't want to give away too much, but one's a boy, one's a girl. One is a firebender, and one is an earthbender. They're both… interesting, to say the least. If you want, I could put them in as small characters and you could say if you like them, then I could bring them back if you do.

Please review and give me your opinion on this chapter, and the whole story, and my writing style and such. I'd love to hear anything you have to say! Hope you liked it.

One more thing. I'm going away for Thanksgiving, so don't expect any updates until late next week. I thought I'd update before I left, though. So be happy!


	6. Chapter 6

This is chapter six, where we find out "what's up with Ozai's Angels" and Iroh. Read and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: Me own Avatar not. Me wish me own Avatar.

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The swords of her life were, unlike most people's, pointed outwards. She didn't give, she took. And she took ferociously, unmercifully, fanatically violently. And although the winds of change were no where near around the corner for her, she thought she felt them blowing at her shoulders.

For you see, when one does something that they think will alter their life, they can trick themselves into believing that wind is nearby. In reality, it is really their younger sibling blowing in their ear to wake you up. Sometimes, change hits you like a hurricane, when you thought it was going to be a peaceful vacation on the beach drinking coconut milk.

The winds of change are controlled by the two ladies who control almost everything else in this universe. "Lady" Luck and Fickle Dame Fortune. Their names are not misleading, for their favored and not fall in and out of those categories very frequently. They decide whether to let change come into your life, and you can't do anything about it.

So, her swords were pointed to other people, and she controlled them, taking joy in their pain. It had always been her way, ever since she had grown up in a palace where her every wish was granted and her special treatment gave her illusions. But they weren't really illusions. They were reality.

This girl stood on the deck with two others, her brown hair swinging in a light breeze that was definitely not one of change. But she thought it was.

Azula blinked her golden eyes before turning to the two girls, smiling maliciously. They were used to this and didn't flinch, although if any of her crew had been around they certainly would have. Her perfect face gave away nothing, and her friends just waited for her to say something, knowing that it was coming.

"I think I'm going to go have a little talk with my uncle," Azula informed them as though she was going to a party back at the Fire Nation palace.

Ty Lee smiled a nodded, giggling. She remembered how funny Azula's uncle was, and couldn't wait until she got to talk to him, after Azula was finished. Although he might not be so keen to talk at all when Azula was finished. It all depended on what kind of mood she was in, and how strong Iroh was, mentally and physically.

Mai didn't say anything, just looked out at the land in front of them. "Zuko better come soon." She commented, earning her a look from Ty Lee. "I don't want to wait around here forever."

Azula nodded and walked below, listening as the stairs clicked sharply as her shoes touched them. The sound was rhythmic and cleansing and she hated it. It reminded her of routine, and she had been constantly trying to escape that her whole life. It was her shackles, her very own ball and chain.

Down, down until she reached the lowest level. This part of the ship wasn't so well taken care of, and the guards outside her uncle's cell weren't looking too pleased with their jobs. However, they snapped to attention when the princess stalked by them, not even casting them a disdainful glance.

She looked inside and saw her uncle sitting calmly on the ground with his eyes closed. He looked utterly relaxed, and that thought made annoyance spread like wildfire throughout Azula's body. He wasn't supposed to be enjoying himself. But she calmed her feelings and slowly stepped into the cage, disappointed when Iroh didn't look up.

"So… any idea when my brother will be along to save you?" the princess asked, settling against the wall nonchalantly. She wasn't used to being casual, but her uncle had an interesting way of handling things, and she would be more likely to figure out what would disturb him this way.

Iroh opened his eyes and looked up at princess Azula, a small smile gracing his features. "Princess," he nodded shortly to her, and closed his eyes again, focusing on his breathing much like Aang had done in their camp only some hours ago.

Azula clicked her tongue. "I asked you a question," she said quietly and dangerously, leaning down so that her face was level with her older companion's.

"I know," replied Iroh simply, his gold gaze meeting her own with an intensity built of kindness instead of intimidation. "But I have chosen not to answer it, seeing as I can see how it would bring my nephew no good."

Azula laughed carelessly, the sound wickedly loud and bouncing off the walls. The guards who had been standing outside edged away from the harrowing noise. They glanced at each other and cringed, imagining horrible things.

"Why do you care for him? He is a worthless, pathetic failure, that little Zuzu. I wouldn't be surprised if he is brooding right now, wondering what the hell he is going to do to help you. Maybe I'll make it a little easier for him," her eyes flashed and Iroh raised an eyebrow.

"Same humor as when we last met, I see," he chuckled dryly, studying his niece. "Although I'm afraid that your attempts to please my brother could result in the death of the Avatar, and his friends, as well as your own brother."

Azula grinned. "I'm sorry." She cupped a hand to her ear, a childish motion that she surprised herself by executing. "I must have heard you wrong. You're making the mistake that I give a shit. Oh well," she shrugged and leaned against the damp metal wall again, feeling the rust scrape against her back.

Iroh just looked up at her, his eyes so innocent that Azula was lost for words. Why couldn't she get him mad? Maybe because he was family, and he knew her too well. He could remember ever since she was born, unlike she could.

The rust dug more insistently into her back and Azula shifted uncomfortably. "Wow, this level really is a hellhole. How do you live here?" she didn't wait for an answer and put her hand on the metal door, ready to close it. She turned back as though she had a sudden change of heart. "Would you like some tea uncle?" she asked, a smile brightening her features.

Iroh almost shouted at the notion of receiving such a perfect drink from his twisted niece. He didn't and replied calmly, "No, thank you Azula. Still as considerate as you were when you were young, I see." Then he closed his eyes and turned his back to her, refusing to talk to the girl.

The comment was a sting. She knew her uncle was jabbing at her for her interactions with the others in the palace, and she frowned. The princess slammed the cell door, and the clanging metal echoes reverberated around the ship. She looked at her uncle one last time. He had settled onto his straw mat and was smiling.

Azula whirled onto one of the guards, lashing out, "Make sure he stays alive, but just barely. I don't want to lose my bargaining chip. He could be useful later, especially to get my brother…" she stalked off, back up to clean, fresh air and her friends.

Again, the guards shared a glance before one of them offered, "I'll do it." Her voice shook, but with what emotion it was hard to tell. The other just nodded and leaned against the outside of the door as Azula had been doing inside. He smiled, content with the knowledge that he was flipping off the princess in his head.

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Mai and Ty Lee stayed out by the deck, both staring out into the woodlands. Each was caught up in their own thoughts, and although Mai could have stayed like that all day, Ty Lee could not be still for more than five minutes. She bounced on the balls of her feet for a bit, and decided to revert to talking.

"Hmmm, looks like we're bringing Zuko back to the Fire Nation finally." She announced coolly, gripping the rail tightly and leaning over to stare at the blue water lashing against the shore.

Mai didn't say anything. She thought back to when the four of them had lived in the palace, and it had just been the four of them. No other kids. Sometimes, the bored girl missed those days, and she longed for the time when she didn't have to worry about Azula's thoughts.

Azula was older, wiser, and much more aware of the scope of her powers than she had been when six years old. Now, the girls respected and obeyed her, instead of playing. And even though Mai hadn't seen her friends for a while until Azula came to get her, she had never forgotten their friendship.

Zuko had always been memorable too, although not in the same way. His reluctance to be with the girls, but ferocity and determination when he was actually in the game made their little group complete. He had had to endure many pokings and proddings from the girls, mostly Azula, but he always came back. There were not many kids in the palace.

Ty Lee seemed to be thinking along the same lines for she said, "Remember that time when Azula set the apple on fire on your head, and Zuko knocked you over into the fountain? That was so funny!" and the acrobat started laughing at the memory of the incident. Mai didn't think it quite so laughable.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She growled, turning away. Ty Lee grinned.

"Okay, sure."

Mai crossed her arms and said, "Remember the time when you fell flat on your face when we were playing tag? Azula couldn't tag you, because she was laughing so hard."

Ty Lee frowned ever so slightly. "The floor was slippery, and I thought Azula was catching up. It wasn't my fault!" Mai didn't reply to that. Her eyes sparkled.

The two girls fell silent. Ty Lee suddenly spoke up, her voice hushed. "So, how did we end up here?" she asked quietly, for once not moving. Mai looked at her curiously.

"What are you talking about?"

"Here," Ty Lee gestured to the ship, and the land behind them. "We were kids who loved to have fun, and now we're hunting down fugitives. I'm not complaining or anything, but our lives took a sharp turn in the opposite direction." Mai almost did a double take. Ty Lee, thinking deeply? This was new.

"Azula was never one to sit around being a princess," Mai pointed out, scrutinizing her nails closely. "I was deathly bored in the City of New Ozai, and you, well…" Mai trailed off, wondering how to put a cap on what Ty Lee was. "You're you." She picked it up again. Ty Lee cocked her head slightly, but Mai paid no attention. "So, really, I think we were going somewhere like this."

Ty Lee couldn't close her eyes to her friend's logic, but she couldn't help feeling that the three couldn't have done something else with their lives, even counting all the facts that Mai had stated.

Then the bouncy girl brought up the most troubling, and perhaps even terrifying thought. "So if we were there… and we are here… then where do you think we're going?"

Mai grinned, her first large one during their conversation. "Wherever we're going, you know it's going to be good."

Before Ty Le could process this, there was a clicking of shoes and they turned around. It was Azula, and she didn't look like she was in the best of moods. Mai and Ty Lee glanced at each other before looking back at their long-time friend.

"My uncle's an idiot," the fire princess snapped.

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The guard slipped into the cell, looking at Iroh with curious brown eyes. She held the food and just stood there awkwardly for a moment, but the man didn't turn around so she quietly cleared her throat and said, "Your food, General Iroh,"

Iroh stood, grunting as the protest of his muscles, and took the bowl of mush from the young lady's hands and smiled up at her. "General Iroh," he chuckled, sitting back down. "I haven't been called that in a long time. It's _former _General now." Iroh looked up at the woman and gestured to the patch of metal floor in front of him. "Please take a seat."

The girl backed away, shaking her head, her hands raised and fingers spread wide, almost in a pleading way. "No, I couldn't. You're a prisoner, and Princess Azula…"

"Princess Azula is not here. Please sit down. It would be rude of you to refuse."

The girl smiled and sat down, not at all deterred by the dirt or rust. "I suppose if you put it that way…" she laughed, and rested her chin on one of her hands, which was propped up on her knee.

Iroh's eyes twinkled upon hearing the laugh. It had been so long since someone besides himself had laughed. Zuko didn't laugh, and neither did Mai. Azula was hardly one to crack up, and Ty Lee giggled. But a real laugh. It was like music to his ears. "How do you know who I am?" he asked, pushing aside the bowl of mush that was giving off an unappealing smell.

"Everyone in the Fire Nation knows your name!" she exclaimed her eyes wide. Iroh took this time to look her over, wondering who she was.

His guard was tall for a girl, with black hair that was pulled up into a plain bun. Her eyes were dark brown and kind-looking, but with a small sparkle of humor. Her face had a haunted look about it, as though Azula had beat most of the life out of her. She was wearing armor that covered her shoulders, chest and back.

"I'm flattered," Iroh told her, blushing lightly. The girl grinned and lay back, not at all afraid that he would attack her, although perhaps she should have been. "What's your name?"

"Kar," replied Kar, still staring up at the ceiling. She put her hands underneath her head and turned her head to look at the old man. She was smiling, and Iroh smiled back.

"Kar…" he mused, racking his brains. Then it came to him. "Ah, yes, Kar. No doubt short for Karhani." He nodded a few times, more to himself than Kar.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Kar, sitting up. "You're basically the only one who's gotten that. Everyone else has no clue." She sighed and told him, "It's a chore, being named after a goddess. Everyone expects you to be brilliant, once you tell them what your name means."

Iroh chortled a bit. "Karhani is a tough goddess to be named after. Everyone likes her. Who wouldn't like a trickster? Also being the minor goddess of choices, people tend to ask her for help. Although I don't know why they would do that. She loves a good joke."

Karhani glanced at the bowl that Iroh hadn't touched and winced. "I would have brought you better food, but…" she flinched again, and Iroh patted her leg.

"It's fine. I will be okay. I could do with losing a few pounds." He patted his full stomach and smiled heartily at her. Kar grinned back and stood up, brushing off her pants. She walked to the door and shut it softly, smiling at him through the small window.

Although she couldn't set him free, although she couldn't bring him better food, although she was under Azula's employment, and his niece had sucked the fun out of her, Kar's visit, no matter how brief had lightened his mood. Iroh resolved to ask her how she came to be with Azula, if they ever talked again.

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Azula snorted and lit some fire in her hand, letting down some of her barriers slightly, causing the fire to spill over her hand, going dangerously close to Mai. The goth girl didn't flinch, but merely waited for Azula to calm down.

"What did he say?" she asked when the fire was out and Azula rested her forearms on the railing, staring out at the forest with a scary intensity.

"Nothing of consequence. But as soon as my brother comes, we'll get the information that we need. I'm not worried about that." Azula closed her eyes.

Ty Lee went over to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. Azula tensed but didn't make a move to stop the kind gesture. Mai came up on the other side and the three of them gazed out into their misty futures, and what they were going to do.

Azula moved away. Her pride wouldn't let her accept the comfort for longer than this. She nodded to them and walked below decks, knowing that Zuko and company wouldn't come until night, if they came at all today. But she would be ready for them.

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**Author's Notes:**

Like or no? Please tell me in a highly intelligent and promising way, so that I will feel motivated to write, please. Please. Hee hee. Please. First thing, sorry if you didn't like that I made up a god, but I think there has to be more in the Avatar world than what has been mentioned before, so I figured it would be okay.

Sort of a new style in this chapter, but I hope I got the point across. I think I'm going to be switching styles throughout the fic until I find my most comfortable one. I seriously do not mean to do it, but I have a feeling it's just going to happen.

Alright, so people were saying, minor. I put her in as a minor, one time thing. Tell me if you want Kar to come back, cause she could, or could not, one just as easy as the other. Also, I'm a huge Azula fan, contrary to what you might think. I want to get her personality just right, but something isn't there. I'm looking for it…

Season Finale of Avatar Season two is at eight o'clock Friday night! I'm really excited for that! I can't wait until season three. Book: Fire!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven! I am _so sorry, _you guys, but I got stuck in this huge valley of writer's block and couldn't find my way out! I finally did, and I hope that you like this chapter, even though it's sort of a filler.

Disclaimer: My Avatar scripts suck. Period.

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Katara plodded along, contemplating the hate she held for the man who walked behind her. She thought of all the levels she hated him on. She hated him physically (his scar was awful), she hated his personality (a stuck-up, insensitive jerk with no friends), she hated him mentally (the way he thinks is twisted), she hated the way he did things (he needs to learn to socialize, maybe then people would _like him_) and basically everything else about him. Even his name. _Zuko._ It was so… Fire Nation.

Zuko, on the other hand, was thinking about his amazing good luck. He still had the Avatar, he was going to rescue his uncle, and he was having help from the others (even if he would have rather have done it on his own) who could fight with Azula and her cronies.

Aang was feeling guilty. It was his fault that they were all in this situation. If he wasn't the stupid Avatar! He couldn't go into the Avatar state, because he might hurt his friends while trying to save them. And he couldn't let that happen. Aang felt the guilt well up in him until he wanted to scream, until he wanted to run and never look back to see the pain that he caused.

Toph and Sokka walked silently side by side. Their heads hung down, and they didn't let themselves think about anything. If they did, they might attack Zuko, and that would make him kill Aang. He was such a jerk, how could he kill the Avatar, the last hope of people in the world? How could he not think about anyone but himself?

Zuko looked at Aang. To be truthful, he didn't know if he had it in him to kill the Avatar. He didn't know if he had it in him to kill at all. The former fire prince looked up at the sky, remembering when he had tried to save Zhao from that water monster. If the admiral had swallowed his pride, he might be here right now. No, Zuko wasn't a killer. But he couldn't let the others know that, no matter how sick they thought he was.

So they all walked, immersed in themselves, and not saying anything until night when they made camp. Zuko helped, which surprised them, but they didn't complain. They did throw him dirty looks whenever he wasn't looking, though. When camp was set up the young man settled with his back against a tree and watched everyone else.

"He's the biggest jerk I've ever met," Toph ground out, eating around the fire, her blank eyes staring at the bowl.

"I don't know how he could do that! You healed him, Katara, and now he's capturing Aang and forcing us to help him get his Fire Nation uncle? He's really got some nerve." Sokka agreed with Toph, glaring at Zuko.

Aang didn't say anything. He wasn't eating and was looking at Zuko too, but not with the same hatred as Sokka. He was looked calculating, disappointed and guilt sparkled fiercely in his eyes. No one saw this; they were all too busy quietly ranting about Zuko and eating dinner.

Katara let her head hang down. "I can't stay angry," she whispered, almost too quietly for anyone to hear. Her face grew red and her voice grew louder, angry at herself. "I can't stay mad at him! I know that he captured Aang, and held him hostage without a care but…" she trailed off, not really sure what she was trying to say, "I don't know. I just can't stay angry at him."

Sokka looked aghast, "Katara, are you starting to _care _for him?"

Katara's face mimicked her brother's, "What? No! I just… can't be angry at him like I was. Now he's just Zuko again…"

Toph said nothing for a moment. "I guess I know what you're talking about." It was very contrary to the insult she had spat before. Her head hung low, as though ashamed.

Aang said nothing, but there was a faint smile on his face. He stared down at his own bowl. _No violence._

* * *

Toph made her way over to where Zuko was sitting dejectedly, watching the sky. He didn't acknowledge her presence, or make any move to scoot away from her. He just sat there, not moving, and waiting for her to approach him. 

"Sulked enough?" she asked him quietly, her arms crossed and facing him.

The prince didn't answer. Now he did turn away from her a little bit. His eyes never left the heavens, and Toph snorted, disgusted by his actions. She could feel the others sitting by the fire and watching her, so she threw up a wall to give them privacy. There was no way that Zuko would say anything with them eagerly listening.

"I guess not," she spat, standing up. Even on her feet, Toph wasn't that much taller than Zuko sitting down. She turned her face down to where she knew him to be, and waited again.

"I don't need to hear anything like that from you," Zuko said quietly, fixing his gaze upon a bright star winking right above him. "I already got one of these from Mr. Admirable; I don't need one from you."

"Sokka's an idiot, and he's not going to do anything but insult you, because that's just who he is. He does it to Aang and Katara all the time." She laughed. "Not me. He's afraid of me."

Again, nothing. Zuko's cold distancing was really starting to get to her, and Toph was going to do something about that. She was stubborn, and she had been raised to get what she wanted, if not from her parents then by forcing it herself.

"You know what, pouty? You're as much of an idiot as Sokka is, and that's really saying something. For one thing, Katara healed you, just like she healed Aang. You'll hurt for a while, yeah, but you're better. Also, we're _helping _you find your uncle. Sure, you threatened us with Aang's death, but there's four of us and one of you. We could've 'ganged' up on you. We've just forgiven you! We were talking about it!" Toph moved closer to Zuko and tapped her foot, a warning concealed in the impatient gesture.

Zuko's brain momentarily stopped working. Then, "Pouty?"

Toph smirked. "Well, you're not exactly being very happy now, are you Mr. Sunshine?"

The prince thought about what she had just ranted at him. He could feel his anger rising, and he grabbed the small girl and dragged her farther away from the wall, hissing at the same time.

"What do _you _know? I've just lost my uncle to my insane sister who's been hunting me. I'm being pushed away by every single person in your little 'gang', and I'm traveling with the people who _I've _been tracking! I don't feel all that happy right now, alright?"

Toph pulled herself roughly out of his grip. "You could be a little more thankful. Of course, why should I expect that from you? You've been hunting us the same way that your sister's been hunting you. Katara _only _healed your burns, you've _only _got us on your side, and your uncle is _very _capable of looking after himself. You _have _nothing to be grateful for." She snorted with disgust, the sarcasm evident in her voice.

Zuko sat down again. "How would you know? You don't know my uncle."

"Actually, I do." Toph corrected him, sitting down by him and relaxing her threatening stance. "I met him before. Nice guy. Smart too."

Zuko mouthed openly for a couple of moments before grabbing her by her shoulders. "What?! When? How? Where?"

Toph laughed, pushing him away. "Just after I joined these guys. He gave me some great advice, and I gave him some too." The earthbender seemed to be thinking about something before asking a question completely off topic. "So, did your uncle ever tell you he needed you?"

"Huh?"

Toph sighed. She should have known. And the blind girl could feel Zuko crawling back into the shell that he had briefly come out of. "Never mind." She shook her head and stood up, preparing to get rid of the wall that Aang had been trying to topple for the duration of their talk.

"By the way, Sunshine," Toph turned back to him, arms raised. "We'll be at the sea mid afternoon tomorrow if we push it."

Zuko groaned inwardly. "Sunshine?"

"Sunshine," the tiny girl confirmed, pulling down the rock wall and walking away from him.

* * *

Katara watched the boys laughing at each other's charades acts. They were trying to forget the presence of a prince who, although not icily hated anymore, was still a threat to them. Sokka was using Momo as a device, trying to depict a bug on a hog-monkey. Aang had no idea what he was doing. 

The waterbender sighed and tried again, "_What _did you guys talk about?"

Her friend idly flicked rocks with her fingers, aiming for the other two people in their gang and hitting them almost every time. "Ask him yourself."

That was about the only answer Katara had been able to get out of Toph for the last hour. She beat her fists on the ground with annoyance, and glared at the younger girl who was lounging easily on the forest floor.

"Why won't you tell me? It's not like you did anything, right?"

No answer. Katara gasped, "Toph! You didn't…"

Toph smirked mischievously. "I don't know, Katara. I just wanted some privacy while we _talked a few things over_." She brushed her bangs aside idly, as they were tickling her nose and waited for the reaction she was sure would come.

The teen's eyes grew round, and she sputtered, trying to find words to describe her utter astonishment and appalled feelings. An "oh…" escaped her mouth before she exploded. "You WHAT?!" she whispered fiercely, sitting on her knees. "Oh, _gods _Toph you're going to get yourself in so much trouble! How could you have not thought about this before… before…" she switched tactics. Her voice was rising almost uncontrollably. "How could you… with him?! He's _Zuko, _not just some guy! And just a few hours ago you were so mad at him for being such a stupid _guy_..."

Her flow of angry words was halted by Toph's laughter. She clutched her stomach and let her hilarity ring out around their camp, making all three boys turn to stare at the two. They saw Toph almost shrieking with laughter on the ground, and Katara's face growing redder by the second.

"You're lucky there's no river here!" shouted Katara, standing up. "I can't believe you would…!" and with that she stomped across the clearing, snarling at Appa who was staring at her, flabbergasted.

"_What?!_"

* * *

"What was up with her?" asked Sokka, sitting by Toph. The stars had been up for a while, but no one felt much like going to sleep. For one thing, Zuko wasn't sleeping and that made the group nervous. But also being so close to their goal was putting them on edge. 

"She's just having one of her Katara mood swings." Toph answered lightly. She was sitting in the same spot that the master waterbender had left her in.

Sokka nodded knowingly. "You mean, it's that _time…_?"

Toph rolled her eyes. "Sure, Sokka. Whatever you want to think."

"So, what were you two talking about before?" he asked carefully, knowing that he was treading on slippery ground. "You know, you and Zuko."

The earthbender gritted her teeth in frustration. Was everyone going to jump down her throat about that? She might embarrass people, tell some secrets, make them furious, but there were some things that didn't have to be shared. "Why don't you ask _Katara_? We had a _scream_ talking about it. But she'll want to tell you about it in _private_." The young girl rolled over and set up her rock tent.

Sokka left her, feeling more confused than when he had sat down.

* * *

Aang grinned at his friend, twirling longer stick that he had drawn between his fingers. He definitely hadn't wanted to go talk to Toph about her and Zuko. Neither had Sokka. So they had drawn lots.

The Avatar shivered. No violence or hatred was all and well, but them talking behind that rock wall had been unnerving.

"So?"

Sokka scratched his head with his boomerang. "Apparently Katara knows, and we'll scream, but it has to be in private."

Aang stared at the older boy. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

* * *

Everyone else was in bed, but Katara couldn't keep her eyes closed. She tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. It was strange, because she had slept out in the open before, on the ground, and was used to it. 

The girl sighed and stared up at the stars. They reflected in her eyes, making them sparkle. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair that was down, getting out any knots with her fingers.

A flash of light caught her attention. She turned her head and saw Zuko sitting calmly with his hands folded in his lap, breathing deeply, as she had seen Aang doing many times.

Little flames danced just above his folded hands, growing and diminishing with each inhale and exhale. His eyes were closed, and for once, his face wasn't creased with anger, annoyance or pain. He looked so much younger like that, and Katara found herself wondering what caused him so much pain.

She wanted to get up and walk over to him. Put a hand on his shoulders and ask him about his past, what made him try to capture the world's last hope, why he had to regain his honor so badly (oh yes, she remembered their little encounter with the pirates).

But she didn't. Katara didn't soothe the prince with calm words and help him get over his problems. He didn't look up at her gratefully and thank her, eyes glowing. They didn't bond and become friends.

The waterbender took a quiet drink from her waterskin and lay back down on her sleeping bag. She always kept it by her in case they were attacked in the middle of the night, something that had happened before.

Katara lay down and went back to sleep, eyes fluttering shut.

She knew in her heart that it wouldn't have happened that way anyways.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Yes, in this Aang hasn't mastered the Avatar state, because in this, the season finale never happened. Also, Zuko and Katara never got stuck in that cave together. Just wanted to remind you people of that.

Notice any parings? Again, although there will be many pairings in here (I promise) they're mostly going to be subtle, little talks or acts or whatever. I'll leave it to you to define what's what.

I might add in a bigger fluff scene if you guys want it, but it's really up to you. Again, either way is fine with me, as is usual with most of my stuff. I live to serve XD.

One last thing, I was going to put in a big Zuko/Katara scene here (no, not Zutara, just Zuko/Katara) but I decided that a Toph and Zuko scene was more interesting, and the Katara Zuko scene can wait until later, because that could fit anywhere.

Maybe a little OOC… I dunno. Oh, and guess what! I discovered the page break. Smart of me, isn't it? Please read and review!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight, and I am feeling good! So, here is where our favorite heroes try to save Iroh, and avoid being killed by the three dangerous ladies who are on the lookout for them.

Disclaimer: Avatar is not mine. I do, however, own this story, where I shall twist the characters and make them do what I wish. -evil laughter-

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He leaned casually against a tree, staring out at the water that was only about a hundred feet away. The trees grew very close to the shoreline, and provided the perfect cover for them as they watched the huge metal Fire Nation ship bob up and down in the water.

She watched him, so relaxed and in control looking. But his tense shoulders and chest gave him away, and there was a fire in his eyes that told her nothing would get in his way today. Not when they were doing this.

She watched him, because he scared her. He confused her, and she didn't understand anything about him. Somehow, somehow Toph could talk to him and Sokka too, as he had confided to her. But not her, she wasn't able to. Because he scared her.

Zuko turned his head to the waterbender, who was staring at him from her sitting position on the ground. "What?" he asked, a bite of annoyance in his voice.

Katara quickly looked away. "Nothing," she muttered, and finished packing up their things from the lunch that they had just had.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Aang walking over and gazing out to where they were to execute a rescue plan that very night. Once they had a rescue plan, of course.

Zuko didn't reply. Sokka grinned. "You don't have one, do you?" he asked with a hint of mockery in his tone. The fire prince didn't even turn to look at him, and Sokka huffed, crouching by his sister.

Toph's head jerked up. "You don't have one?" she repeated, standing up now and marching over to Zuko, who was almost twice as tall as she.

Zuko shook his head. "I have one," he told the four of them. "But you guys aren't going to like it." And his eyes never left the ship.

"Tell us anyway," Aang urged, giving him a slight push on his forearm. Zuko wrenched it away from the Avatar. "How can we help if we don't know what to do?" he continued, scratching his bald crown.

"Fine," with one last look at the ocean, Zuko turned to them. They all were listening intently, even Sokka, who did grow serious when there was something to be done. "My plan. Get onto the ship. Find my uncle. Break him out. Get him back onto land. Run. While doing this, be as quiet as possible. If we meet anyone, knock them out. Don't kill unless you have to."

Sokka mouthed like a fish for a minute before he could find words to express his incredulity. "That is the stupidest plan I've ever heard! We're going to be _killed _doing that! You've got _nothing_ planned out! How are we supposed to save someone with a plan like that, huh?" he asked storming right up to Zuko and looking him in the eye.

The prince pushed away the disgruntled water tribe warrior. "I told you that you wouldn't like it," he pointed out, eyes returned to the waves.

"He did," admitted Aang. "Besides, sounds like _instincts_ to me," he chuckled. The look on Katara's face, however, showed that she agreed with Sokka.

Toph shrugged. "Sounds like a good plan to me. Go in. Attack everyone. Get the prisoner. Get out." She shrugged again and sat down by Katara, hand sneaking into the food sack.

Sokka was still fuming, but Aang pulled him down to his knees. "Why don't we just do it and improvise when something else comes up?" he asked, but his eyes told the boy it was more of a demand.

Sokka clenched his teeth and nodded. Katara didn't do anything, but didn't raise any objections. "Alright," Aang confirmed. "We start after the sun sets. So, I don't know, get some sleep. We'll probably be up all night."

-------------------------------------

"Will you shut up Sokka? After this we're home free!" Toph breathed into Sokka's ear, sitting behind a bush on the very edge of the beach.

Zuko beckoned the four, and they crept out, sneaking quietly along the sandy beach. There was barely any cover, and Aang's heart kept leaping into his mouth when he heard any night noises, afraid that it was a soldier who had seen them.

In this state, every shadow seemed to be a person, every crunch was an attacker. And they weren't even on the ship yet. The teens held their breath as they dodged patches of moonlight as well as they could.

In the shadow of the ship, the five regrouped, and conversed in hurried whispers. Within seconds, ice spikes were driven softly into the iron, as to make as little sound as possible. If you can drive ice spikes into the side of a ship quietly.

They all flinched at the noise that it made, a splitting, sharp crack, and then creaking. As they were all climbing up the side, they winced even worse at the cold that bit into their hands cruelly.

"We should have brought a rope," Sokka grumbled. In response, Toph butted him upwards. She wanted to get off the ice as soon as possible, as did everyone else below her.

Zuko climbed up in what seemed like an endless pattern. Reach, grab, slip, push. Reach, grab, slip, push. And cold. Cold, cold, cold. Damn the water brat! Couldn't she have made any warm ice?

Everybody else had already hauled themselves over the edge. Zuko gripped the last ice spike, but his hands had finally had enough. They heated by themselves, faster than he could blink. In an instant the ice melted. While trying to desperately grapple for a firmer grasp, he let go of the other one he was holding onto.

Instead of falling like the prince had expected, a strong hand heaved his arm up, and Zuko thought it would pop out of the socket. He looked up straight into the face of Sokka, who didn't look too happy about what he was doing.

When Zuko had made it onto the deck, they separated quickly, Sokka determinedly looking anywhere but the young man, and Zuko staring with confusion at Sokka.

Katara watched this exchange, eyes narrowed. Toph rolled her eyes and dragged everyone forward. "Are we going to do this or not?" she asked harshly, flicking Sokka in the head and glaring at the others.

Zuko set off, and Toph grinned. Actions not words, were what spoke loudest to someone like her. The four friends followed him. He would know his way around a Fire Nation ship, since he had commanded one not too long ago.

Down steps their footsteps echoed. All were hyper-aware of what was going on around them, but no one seemed to be there. Every place was empty, and no guards or people were seen walking around.

"Why is this place so empty?" asked Sokka, looking into a room they passed. There were no occupants.

"Maybe they're all sleeping?" suggested Aang hesitantly. Sokka shook his head, but didn't answer, preferring to check the next room for signs of life.

Zuko didn't say anything, but he was unnerved as well. Where was the busy nightlife that he knew went on in his sister's ship? She was never lax, and there was never nothing going on. None of this was right.

Through more hallways, and the silence just grew, pressing on their ears. All readied their weapons nervously, heads turning at the smallest noise which more often than not turned out to be their companions walking.

On the brig level Zuko became even more alert, not even bothering to check the cells closest to the stairs. Azula wouldn't give their uncle anything but the worst for a room to stay.

At the very end of the hall Zuko peered into the last cell. There was no one there. It looked as though it had been recently occupied, though. There was a mat on the floor, and a bowl full of something unnamable sat nearby.

"There's no one there," whispered Aang, who was standing beside Zuko. The Avatar went to go and check the cell across the way, but there were no prisoners in there either.

"Where are they?" asked Katara, walking back a few paces to look at the previous cells.

"I knew it! This was a complete waste of time for _everyone_!" Sokka complained in a growling voice. He glared at Zuko, who was steadily heating up.

"Azula," he hissed, still standing stock still at the entrance to the cell.

"Yes, brother?" a smooth voice asked in the same hissing tone as the princes. The five children spun around to see a girl about Sokka's age standing there. She was smirking in a way that made them shiver.

"I knew you would come and see me. I know how much you've missed me all these years." Azula grinned, and with that, sent a controlled bolt of blue lightning at them, which they moved out of the way for.

"Damnit!" cried Sokka, now that they were no longer bothering to be quiet. "We have no room to move!"

The others quickly saw that he was right. The small hallway was an impairment for everybody. Toph ground her teeth together in frustration, but stayed out of everyone's way, knowing that she couldn't help anybody without any earth.

Sokka huddled in a corner with her, thinking along the same lines. His boomerang would not be accurate at all in here, and he could hardly get close enough to the princess to do any damage in hand-to-hand. So the two grumbled angrily and watched the three benders go to work.

Zuko countered his sister's fire, sending his own ball of fire to her. She easily blocked and ran forward, trying to get close enough to do some real damage.

Mai and Ty Lee appeared behind Azula, faithful as always. Ty Lee used the cell doors and handholds that weren't available to the naked eye to jump over and closer to the others as well.

Mai simply pulled out a throwing star and whipped it in Aang's direction. The young boy ducked and retaliated with a blast of air in her direction. The goth girl was knocked off her feet and onto her back, the wind knocked out of her.

Katara's string of water wrapped around Ty Lee's ankle and pulled her down. Pulling it back, the master sent it out against as a whip, which Ty Lee ducked. She smiled widely and in an almost demonic way before diving for Katara's pressure points.

"Ouch," Katara spat out, her right arm hanging limp. She conjured up a weaker whip again with her left arm, but Ty Lee pressed more pressure points in her arm and hard, making it go limp as well.

Zuko moved his arms out strongly, but before he could complete his move, grabbed his upper arms, the bruises and stiffness from the last fight with his sister evidently still there.

The princess grinned and knocked his feet out from under him with a perfectly timed swipe of her leg. A shot right to his chest with lightning knocked Zuko out of the game, and she straightened up, looking down at him with disdain.

"Easier than last time," she told him, not seeing anything else that was going on.

Ty Lee was guarding Katara's body, which was out cold as well. Toph and Sokka nodded to each other, and ran at the two free girls, determined to win their fights. Each knew what would happen if they were captured.

Azula spun and fisted Sokka in the jaw. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet for a moment before collapsing onto the floor. As he fell, Azula gazed at him with what could only be disgust on her face before turning in time to see Ty Lee dealing with Toph.

Punch, punch, punch and the blind earthbender was down as well. She would have to remember to fight with them in a small space. It seemed to severely limit the damage that they could do to her.

The only one left was Aang. He was blasting Mai off her feet every time she tried to get up. She had gotten a few good throws in though, and one of her daggers had grazed his cheek, leaving a small blood trail there.

Mai just sat on the floor now, looking up at Aang. He looked down at her, and the two just stood there staring. Azula started to move forward, but Mai shook her head, and surprisingly, Azula stopped.

Aang's vision was hazy; he couldn't make out who was who, which was a problem when you were trying to fight someone. Turning around on unsteady feet, the Avatar looked dizzily at Ty Lee and Azula, squinting to try and figure out who they were.

Azula grinned. "We won, Avatar!" she told him.

Aang smiled. "Great!" he looked down at the people on the floor. "Why are there so many people on the floor? Did the platypus-bear kill them all?" he asked, still grinning like a maniac.

Azula drew away from him as Ty Lee giggled. "Platypus-bear!" she squeaked.

Aang looked up and scrunched up his face. "What happened to the sun?" he asked before falling heavily to the ground, cheek still bleeding.

"What did you do to him?" asked Azula, bending down to examine the pale Avatar who was slumped over the body of her traitor-of-a-brother.

"I got him with one of my poisoned daggers." Mai answered simply, standing up and leaning forward a bit, trying to stretch out her back which was definitely going to be very colorful the next day. "He'll probably die if we don't get him some medical help soon, but he's out for the count."

Azula clicked her tongue at the knowledge that her friend had half-killed the Avatar, but there were healers on board, and she wasn't too worried about that. Besides, it was always better to have Aang weaker than usual, just in case.

Azula took no chances.

-------------------------------------

"I trust the capture went well," his voice came from the corner where he was sitting comfortably, hands folded in his lap and eyes glinting from the shadows that he resided in as of then.

"Perfectly." Azula replied, shutting her door. "Zuko, the Avatar and his friends are all in separate cells, and are knocked out. It didn't take long, and, frankly, I wish it had been more of a challenge."

"Yes, well, I know that taking out a group of children, some of who can't bend, some of who are hurt from our last encounter must have been simple. Of course, I know that you don't care about beating up weaker opponents. I expect you will be fighting them chained up next. What a challenge." Iroh told his niece.

Azula snarled at him, "You'll be taken back to your cell now, by the guards. Don't try anything either, you know that your bending is gone."

Iroh didn't say anything as two guards came in and escorted him outside the room and down to his old cell.

Azula sat down and rubbed her temples. Her success should have felt great; she had everyone she needed. Her uncle, her brother and the Avatar as well as his little friends. She could go back home now, to her father. But for some reason, all she had now was a headache.

-------------------------------------

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry I was gone so long! This chapter was the hardest yet to write. I'll be a lot quicker with the next update, because the next chapter is one that I really like, and I'll have _so much fun _writing it.

I know that Toph can bend metal, but she hasn't figured that out yet, right? Don't worry, that'll come into play later in the story, because that's just too cool to leave out.

Ugh, stupid, fragmented, boring fight sequence! I hated it so much; please forgive me if it totally sucks. I've tried to fix it, but if just won't come out right. I'm far from satisfied with it.

I just had to have some Uncle Iroh taunting in here, even though I know that he might not actually do that in the show. –sigh- Me and my whims. Oh well.

You know the drill, please review and tell me what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

Ninth chapter! Conversations, accusations, a bit of torture on Azula's part… -grins- I can't wait for that!

Disclaimer: Avatar + me Laughing. Hard.

----------------------

Toph first noticed that she was rocking back and forth, a bit like a cradle would. She grimaced, not needing to strain herself to remember what happened. It all came back glaringly clear to her; the way there were grunts of pain, and laughter, and her humiliating failure at being able to protect her friends.

She sat up carefully, biting her lip as she felt the remnants of Ty Lee's pressure points groaning in protest. As she moved, a clinking noise followed her, telling her that she was chained up. Feeling along the metal object confirmed this.

Every time she moved the noise echoed in her ears, so different than earth would. It confused her and disoriented her. For once, she cursed the fact that she had enhanced hearing because of her blindness.

Toph reached the bars that separated her from the outside world that is not Toph's Cell. She gripped them very tightly and shook them, even though she knew that it wouldn't make any difference in the slightest.

"Toph, is that you?" rasped a voice. Toph poked her head over, standing on her tiptoes.

"Sokka? Yeah, it's me." She answered him, not bothering to hide how annoyed with the situation she was.

Sokka's head came over, peeking at his friend's face from between bars identical to hers. He did not sound any happier than the earthbender when he growled at her, "Did you know… that we're _moving?_"

Toph knew. She leaned her head against the cool metal of the ship and tried to think. "Where is everyone?" she finally asked, bringing her head up, craning it over the edge, trying to be eye to eye with Sokka.

He shrugged. "I don't know. You're the only other person up besides me. I've been waiting for hours. It's been real boring. A guard comes along every twenty minutes or so to check on how many people are awake. But none of them are much of a talker." The warrior got angry again.

"This is _all… Zuko's… fault!_" he raged, kicking the wall. A groan of pain slipped from his mouth, and he sat down, still talking to Toph. "If he hadn't come and messed everything up, we would be on our way to the North Pole right now!"

Toph couldn't agree more. However, she was listening to a muffled sound coming from the cell next to her. It started out as a moaning, but it became sharper and more distinguishable as she listened.

"Someone's waking up." She informed Sokka, who immediately shut up to listen instead to the person mumbling incoherently.

----------------------

One by one, everybody woke up to various types of injuries. Everyone was also subject to Sokka's complaining and accusations, especially Zuko, whom the warrior deemed to be fully responsible for their condition.

The exiled prince took to sitting in the corner of his cell and ignoring Sokka, which everyone else was used to doing anyway, so no one was really bothered by this, and Sokka got to let off some stream. It really was a win-win situation.

Except for the fact that no one had seen Aang, and he wouldn't answer their calls, no matter how loud they cried his name to try and wake him up too.

So now they were all sitting in their cells, not even bothering to look at each other, and trying to find a way out of this by talking it out. It wasn't really working.

"So, we're sailing, probably to the Fire Nation, we're stuck in these cells away from each other, with… Zuko… and we still don't know where his uncle is." Katara summed up for the umpteenth time. She knocked her head against the wall. "And Aang still won't answer us."

"Aang?" she called out hopefully, but not really expecting an answer. The waterbender didn't get one.

"You already told us this." Groaned Sokka, also hitting the wall, but with his fist. "What we have to figure out is how we're going to get away from this place. But since we're in the middle of the ocean, we wouldn't get very far."

"So what are you saying?" asked Toph, lying on her back. "That we have to live it through here until we can escape in the Fire Nation?"

There was no answer from their scheming friend. Both girls scrambled up and pressed their faces against the metal bars. "Is that a yes?" asked his little sister in a dangerously low voice.

Again, no answer.

Toph hit the wall in frustration. This was getting them nowhere, they were just going in circles, and to top it all off, she thought that she heard some suspiciously awful footsteps in the distance, walking closer very quickly, and in their direction.

"The _princess_ is coming," she scoffed, leaning against the back wall and closing her eyes.

Zuko perked up at this, sitting up straight and coming towards the door, although this wasn't because he was eager to see his sister, however… she had their uncle, and he needed to at least try and find out where he was.

First her metal, pointed-toed shoes appeared, clanking loudly on the metal stairs when they connected. Then came the legs, the bottom half of her armor, her arms and torso, and last but not least her face.

It was grinning maliciously, molten golden orbs glowing from the ivory skin and hard ebony hair up in the tight bun. "Hello prisoners, having a nice time?" again she surveyed the lower deck and noticed all the small things. Rust, dirt, insects and other things that she would rather not think about.

Without waiting for an answer from any of them, she marched past four cells, three with very disgruntled people who stared at her with hatred in contempt, which she basked in, and one where the captive was out cold, but breathing normally, which was good news for her. Down to her brother's cell.

"Hello, brother," Azula smiled sweetly at him, liked honeyed poison. He flinched, eyes shadowed.

"So, what to do, to keep me occupied while we're on our way to the Fire Nation. You know, to see Dad. The Fire Lord." Again, that smile. And again it made her older brother shiver.

"Shall I kill one of you?" she asked.

"One of who?" grunted Zuko, scooting into a corner of the cell and looking up at Azula, who remained standing. It didn't matter to him anymore. He had lost. He was lost, and Azula was going to win now. Again, like she always did.

"You or uncle?"

He didn't answer, but fear flickered in her eyes. His younger sister saw it and latched onto it, relishing in the weakness that she had found in him. She knew exactly how to proceed with what she wanted to do.

"Or perhaps something worse than death?"

"There is nothing worse than death, Azula," Zuko informed her in a flat voice, closing his eyes, trying not to think of dying, or of his uncle dying.

Azula laughed, a light, tinkling sound that didn't suit her at all. "Oh, there you are quite wrong, my dear brother. There are things far worse than death, and I think I'll give you a taste of some."

Her eyes flashed. "Like watching someone who you love be tortured."

Zuko's eyes snapped open and he suddenly seemed alive again. "No, Azula. You wouldn't. You would never." He rose to his knees, scrutinizing her closely.

She couldn't do that to their uncle, her uncle as well, not just his. The one man who had never given up on him, who had always believed in him no matter what everyone else said or did. The one person who had told him to keep going, and stuck with him even when he thought that his nephew was doing something wrong. Azula wasn't that cruel.

Azula smirked down at him. Oh, how she hoped that he would beg. She hadn't made him beg since that time when she had threatened to throw his stupid knife into the turtleduck pond. Oh, he should beg.

Zuko glared up at his sister. He would not beg for her. He would not bend down on his knees and plead for mercy from her. He would not ask her for help, say that he would trade anything for her to spare their uncle. So the prince wondered how he found himself on his knees, looking up at his sister and _begging her._

"Please Azula, please. Don't do this, he's your uncle too. Please, Azula, don't, it's not right, don't do it."

So he did beg. Azula rolled her eyes, but a grin lingered on her features. This made her feel so powerful. But, unfortunately, it had to end sometime.

"Well, I'll leave you to think that over, and then tomorrow, I'll have some fun. You know, take my mind off of the long trip home. Mull that over for the night." She left him clamping, white-knuckled to the bars of his cell door and retraced her steps, back past the three children who had listened to this, remaining silent the whole time.

She stopped at Sokka's cell. "Ty Lee wants to see you, so expect a visit from her before the end of the trip." She smiled at him and then went back up the stairs, her shoes clanging again on the steps.

"Damn, how do you live with her for a sister?" asked Sokka, not to anyone in particular.

Zuko was leaning against the wall again, head in his hands. If he had ever come close to crying anytime recently, this was the closest he had been yet. It felt as though his soul was being torn out. Although he longed for the love of his father, and missed his mother terribly, if Iroh was gone there would be a gaping whole that no one could ever fill.

Katara actually felt bad for Zuko. She couldn't imagine what it was like to have a sibling who didn't love and protect you, and always comfort you when you needed it. And when you thought about it, Zuko was still a boy.

Everybody lay down on the floors of their cells in their own thoughts. Sokka soon let the rocking motion send him off to sleep, as did Katara. Toph lay awake wishing that she had some rock, and worrying about Aang.

Zuko couldn't sleep at all, and didn't even try to. His brain was occupied with thoughts of Iroh and the method of torture that Azula could possibly be using on him tomorrow. He cradled his head in his arms and squeezed his eyes shut. It all brought back memories of his childhood with his evil sister.

"_Hey Zuko, you know what me and Ty Lee were talking about today?"_

"_Mom's gone!"_

"_Dad's going to kill you! Really, he is."_

"_Oh, was that your panda-cat? Whoops!"_

"_I heard the nobles talking today, want to know what they said?"_

"_Zhao thinks you're a failure. I know Dad thinks the same."_

"_You'll never catch up."_

"I can't believe you're doing it again, Azula," he whispered, hands tangled up in his hair.

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**Author's Notes:**

I know that this chapter was short, but it was kind of a filler, although it got some important points across. And it'll give you all a nice little incentive to read the next chapter when it comes out. XP

So, review my little pink fluffy bunnies. Actually, if I were you I wouldn't just because I called you all that. Heh. Oh well, I hope you liked the chapter.


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